Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure
by kenskywalk19
Summary: Many years ago, Gold Roger said this before he was executed, "You want my treasure? You can have it! I have the scattered the Dragon Balls all over the Grand Line and at the end of it, I left everything I own in One Piece." The beginning of the Great Pirate Era had begun as pirates tried to claim the title, King of the Pirates and Dragon Master! Who will take the title?
1. Romance Dawn!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Dragon Ball belongs to Akira Toriyama and One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

**Author's note: Hey everyone! How is everyone doing?! Kenskywalk19 here to bring you something new. I know that most of my fans were expecting another chapter of my flagship story, Saiyan in Mahora, but this story has been in the works for a while now. I never really got the chance to finish it, especially when my motivation for writing was down. But after being here in Japan, watching One Piece in Japanese raw as well as watching the new Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods in Japanese theaters, I thought why not give it try in doing a cross over of the two. I noticed that even though the stories are very similar, especially when Oda-san is a huge fan of Akira Toriyama, there aren't many crossovers of these two great mangas! To be honest, there should be more One Piece crossovers! It is hugely popular in Japan, even more so than Naruto! But I digress this argument for another time.**

**Hopefully you guys you will enjoy this story as I tried my best to stay in form to the two stories as well as trying to minimize the major difference in powers by changing a few things. Just to let you know that this will not be a mirror form of the Cross Epoch manga that Toriyama and Oda have done together but rather than something that I have done. Please read and enjoy Chapter 1 of Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure!**

* * *

**Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure**

_**The Dragon Balls, seven mystical spherical orange balls that contained the powers of the gods. Once all seven of them were gathered, they had the power to summon upon a great being to grant upon the user a single wish as well as the title of Dragon Master, the ultimate and strongest warrior of the sea that only a few have retained in recorded history of the Grand Line. But because there were only seven of them and had been not seen in a long time, these orange balls were thought only to be things of legend. As time went on, the rumors of its existence faded through the course of history. But, not anymore.**_

_**Many years ago, Gold Rogers, the King of the Pirates and rumored Dragon Master, had everything the world had to offer. Money, fame, power, you name it. On the day he was captured and to be executed in front of the town he was born in, a member of the crowd asked him where he kept his treasure. His finals words before he was sent to his death were, "You want my treasure? You can have it! I have the scattered the Dragon Balls all over the Grand Line and at the end of it, I left everything I own in One Piece." **_

_**Ever since that day, a new era had begun. The beginning of the Great Pirate Era! Once they had learned about the powers of the Dragon Balls and the location of the One Piece, pirates from all over the world travelled to the Grand Line in search of the Pirate King's legendary treasure and the Dragon Balls to claim the title King of the Pirates and Dragon Master! **_

* * *

Log 1: Romance Dawn! The Beginning of a New Adventure!

It was a cloudy night in the usually clear East Blue Sea. Powerful winds blew past the trees. On one of the many islands in the East Blue lay a small village where its residents were currently asleep in their homes. Past the village was a thick jungle and within that jungle lived an old martial arts master who did not interact much with the village. As a result, his residency had become an urban legend. However, today was a special day as something happened that changed everything.

On the coast of this sleeping island laid a small dinghy on the shores upon which you could see footprints leading into the thick vast jungles. This dinghy had something interesting on as a flag as it was a black flag with a skull and cross bones on it. Yes… the Jolly Roger flag, the infamous insignia of pirates. But who could it belong to?

The ownership of the flag didn't matter right now as a shadowy figure went walking into the jungle. While walking through the thick jungle, he had come across an old traditional home in the middle of this vast place. It was odd to see a little house there, but it didn't matter. The cloaked figure came out from behind the trees while holding a large woven basket. The figure is large and broad, his face well hidden under his hood. The person fought the strong wind, holding the basked close to his chest towards the front door of this house. The person gave a heaving sigh and gently placed the basket on the doorstep.

With another sigh, the person bent down and looked one last time at what was riding in this woven basket. It was wrapped in a bundle of blankets and gurgled happily. The cloaked person stared at the object within the basket for this thing, this newborn, was the hooded stranger's last treasure. With a final gurgle, the baby closed its onyx eyes and fell asleep with a smile. One could not see the soft smile the cloaked one had on his face.

"I'm sorry, my son. This is all I can do for you. Stay strong and avenge the fall of our clan, Kakarotto. Hopefully, in the future, our paths will cross again. Till we meet again, my son," the hooded stranger said to his treasure. The cloaked man pounded continuously on the front door and ran away quickly when he heard footsteps approaching the door. He was nowhere in sight when the door was answered.

Now, a new old voice was heard coming from within the house, "Yes, yes, I am coming." The door opened, revealing a kind looking old man with a white beard. He wore an orange coat that had black sleeves and had a pattern of yellow circles in the orange section of the coat. It looked like one of those Chinese shirts that Chinese martial artists wore. He was also wearing black pants with black boots as well as a green hat.

After a few moments of glancing outside his door, the old man saw that no one was there. "Hello… hello? Is anybody out there?" the elderly man called out. No answer. "Hmph… darn village kids…" the old man grumbled. Just as he was about to close his door, a small cry was heard. "Huh?"

The old man looked down and saw a baby wrapped in blackest inside a woven basket. The old man bent down and picked up the babe and unwrapped in from its blankets. "Well, what a surprise! A baby!" the old man stated. He held out the babe, a small naked little boy with a head full of spiky black hair that suck out in every direction. The infant just stared blankly at the old man.

"Where did you come from?" the elder asked the infant as if he could answer. The child just smiled, thinking that this old guy was kind of funny. He gurgled and raised his tiny chubby little leg and kicked the old man in the face playfully. Unfortunately, it actually hurt the old man. The child just giggled in amusement. Suddenly, from behind the child, a brown furry appendage fell down from his rear and drooped in front on the elder's eyes.

"A baby with a tail? We can't just leave you here, can we? How would you like to come and stay with me?" the old man asked. The child on giggled and kicked the old man again. "Oww! Oh, such a spirited young boy!" The old man chuckled. "Okay, from now on, you'll be the grandson of me, Son D. Gohan, okay? And your name will be… let's see…"

The old man began to ponder on what he should with the baby. He looked up and saw that a bit of light from the crescent moon began to shine through one of the cracks in the rainclouds. Thinking that maybe the baby had come from the sky due to this sign from the heavens, Gohan had come up with a good name for the child. "Goku!" he named. "Son D. Goku!" The baby giggled at the name and wagged his tail happily.

The old man smiled sweetly. "Goku, you're going to grow up strong!" The baby smiled brightly at his new guardian, Son D. Gohan as he was lifted up into the air. "Now let's get you inside before it starts storming again." Gohan put Goku in one hand and picked up both Goku's blanket and basket with the other as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

_Seven years later…_

Monkey D. Luffy was always an explorer at heart, even at the age of six. He absolutely loved adventure. He always made trouble in his little village which of course brought a reputation to the young Luffy. So, one day, one of his playmates suggested that he should explore the jungle. However, he mentioned that Luffy should not go too far into the jungle or stay after dark. The people were cautious of the jungle when it was nighttime because a few years ago a giant monster was seen destroying parts of the jungle. It was taller than the trees and caused a great panic within the village. "I ain't scared of no monster! I'm braver than the lot of you!" Luffy boasted before heading into the jungle.

A half hour into his 'adventure,' Luffy found himself going in circles. "Hmph I'm pretty sure I passed that bush 10 minutes ago," Luffy muttered to himself. "Then again… all these bushes look the same!" Luffy looked around. All he could see were trees and plants. Birds were tweeting and animal scurrying around. A looming shadow crept into a nearby bush. Luffy nearly screamed, "Ah I knew this was a bad idea! Why do I listen to myself?" Then his stomach let out a small grumble. "Ahhh, I'm hungry. I need to get out of here and eat some meat."

Suddenly, Luffy heard a low growl. The six year old jumped, "Yipe! W-who's there? H-hello? Makino… Mayor… Mr. Fishmonger… anyone?" He heard the growl again and this time it was much fiercer than before. Luffy jumped up once more and turned around to see himself face to face with a saber-toothed tiger!

"Oh no…" Luffy murmured. He was frozen in his spot. _'Just stay perfectly still Luffy. You don't want to provoke it. No sudden movements…'_ He thought to himself. The tiger gave a low growl and circled the frozen child. It bared its long pointed fangs. Luffy gulped. _I might as well try out my new technique, _he said to himself. _I've been waiting for the opportunity to see if my fist is really as tough as a pistol. _

The tiger crouched down and was about to strike. It pounced and gave a loud roar, ready to devour his prey. Luffy closed his eyes and rushed forward to attack the incoming animal. He prepared for the tiger's attack but within seconds, Luffy didn't feel or sense anything. The tiger never came. "What the…" Luffy mumbled as he opened his eyes. Once he did, he saw a boy who was a few inches shorter than he was, standing in front of the ferocious animal. Luffy noticed that the boy wore a blue dogi, with black martial arts shoes, red wristbands and a staff strapped to his back. What intrigued Luffy the most was this boy had a furry tail like a monkey and really cool spiky black hair that went out in every direction.

The boy had a goofy grin on his face as he looked at his opponent. "You're kinda small for a tiger but you'll do." The tiger roared and pounced on the unknown boy.

Luffy screamed, "Get out of the way dumbass! You're going to get killed!"

The boy paid no attention to Luffy's warning. He jumped up and kicked the tiger in its neck, effectively killing it. Luffy was at a loss of words when the tiger dropped dead. "Tiger, my favorite snack!" The boy chirped, licking his lips. He picked up the tiger by its tail and started to drag it away towards the deeper part of the forest.

Luffy shook his head and came back to reality. "Hey, wait you!" Luffy screamed chasing after the boy. The little boy stopped upon seeing Luffy run after him. Luffy stopped and caught his breath. "I just wanted to thank you for saving my life there. You're really strong and awesome," he said with his trademark grin. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy by the way."

The small boy also smiled his own trademark smile in response. "Ossu! I'm Goku, Son D. Goku!"

"Well Goku, I think it's awesome you have a tail!"

"Thanks but where's your tail?"

"Huh?"

"Well your name is Monkey D. Rubi right? You're a monkey right?"

"No dumbass, I'm a human! And my name is not Rubi, it's Luffy!" Luffy snorted.

Goku moved his head slightly to side in slight confusion. "What's a human, Liffy?" he asked.

"That's easy. A human is someone who can eat lots of meat, like me!" Luffy said proudly.

"That's awesome! You are really smart Lubi!"

"It's Luffy, you jerk! Get it right! Besides, how old are you anyway?"

The young spiky haired boy began to count his fingers. "Let's see… 1... 2... 3... plus 4… times 8… divided by pie… mmm… pie… now subtract that by 50… oh! I'm 7 years old!" Goku announced proudly.

Luffy almost fell down. "W-what? Seven years old? You're older than I am! But you're shorter than me!"

"Huh, really? I guess never noticed that," Goku said with a grin on his face. "Anyways, I should get going and cook this tiger soon. My stomach is rumbling."

"Rumbling?" Luffy asked and within a moment, a very loud grumble was heard in the forest. Luffy immediately knew that the noise wasn't coming from him but rather from Goku. Goku blushed slightly as he let out a chuckle. Luffy laughed. Goku was similar to him when it came to their stomachs. "Shishishishi! I like you Goku," he said. "You are a funny person. Where do you live?"

"Here in the jungle," Goku deadpanned.

Luffy's eyes widened a bit. "Really? All by yourself?"

"Recently, yes. You see, I used to live with my Grandpa but he passed away a few years ago."

Luffy nodded. "I see... sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said the monkey boy and within a moment, another grumble was heard. But this time, it was coming from Luffy. Goku grinned. "You wanna help me eat this tiger?" he asked. "You look kinda hungry. Follow me to my home and I'll feed you!"

Luffy smiled brightly. "Why not? I love meat! And I've always wanted to try tiger meat." The two boys laughed and continued on their way to Goku's house. From that day on, the two "monkeys" became the best of friends.

* * *

_Several years later…_

Many years had passed since Goku and Luffy met each other on that fateful day. And in that time, the Great Pirate Era continued forth, creating more pirates as they sailed on the Grand Line and towards the ultimate goal, the One Piece and claim the title of the Pirate King. However, because of the numbers of pirates on the Grand Line was great, the Marines, the patrolmen of the sea, had their hands full, leaving behind areas that were unprotected, such as the East Blue. As a result, many ships were being attacked in the East Blue by notorious pirates. One such example was the Alvida pirates, led by a notorious pirate lady called Alvida.

They had just finished assaulting a ship that was currently hosting a party of the upper echelon of society and grabbed a whole lot of booty. They could have grabbed more had they not been interrupted by a Marine ship. Luckily though, a whirlpool had appeared and the Alvida Pirates were able to escape. At Alvida's orders, the crew celebrated at gaining such a large amount of treasure and money. However, there was one who wasn't in such a festive mood.

His name was Coby. He was a small, timid, cubby boy with pink hair and round-frame glasses. Clearly, he wasn't the definition of a pirate as he was taken in as a prisoner when he went out fishing from his island. Since then, he had been a cabin boy for the Alvida pirates and mistreated constantly by both the captain and the crew members.

After pillaging the ship, Coby was left alone and badly bruised for not helping with Alvida and her crew. As he began to sigh and think about how he was never going to get off this ship, he noticed two barrels coming up against the ship, port side. Upon seeing them, the young pink haired boy thought of pulling them up since they might contain some sort of treasure, maybe even some alcohol! But as soon as he tried to pull them up, he found them to be extremely heavy and hard to get them out of the ocean.

_This is pointless, _Coby said to himself. _I might as well receive more punishment for not 'helping' the crew. Why do I have to be pirate? All I wanted to be was a… _Coby stopped himself mid-thinking when he noticed something close by to him. A smile appeared on the boy's face as he had thought up a way to lift the two barrels out of the sea without any extra manpower.

Within minutes, the pink haired boy was able to lift up the two barrels. Thinking that maybe they were barrels of alcohol, Coby took them down to the kitchen and storage room. As he brought them down, he pushed one and pulled the other with a rope. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he turned around to see three members of the Alvida Pirates.

"Hey, coward!" said the bigger looking pirate to a startled Coby. "Are you hidin' out in a place like this again?!"

"N-No! I thought I'd haul these two big barrels of alcohol over…"

"Hehehehe," chuckled tall one of the three pirates. "We'll lighten it for ya!"

"I was just feelin' thirsty!" added the other pirate.

"You can't! Alvida-sama will kill us if she finds out!"

"Then you just need to keep yer mouth shut! Right, Coby?"

The pink haired boy gulped as he bowed his head in defeat and fear. "Y-yes! You're right!" he said.

One of "This one is pretty heavy!"

"Can't wait!"

"Hold yer horses!" said the bigger pirate as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll bust this one right open and then we can get to the other one!"

When the bigger pirate was about to punch the barrel open, it was broken open and a loud voice yawned. At the same time, the mysterious guest gave a punch to the face of the bigger pirate, knocking him out instantly. "YAAWWN, I SLEPT GREAT!"

Everyone jumped and gasped at the person that came out from one of the barrels. This person wore a sleevesless red vest along with blue trousers and sandals. But what was interesting was that he was wearing a straw hat. The mysterious person looked around the room, noticing that he wasn't on his ship anymore. The pirate crew were shaking and gaping. "H-H-He just came out a barrel! Who the hell is this guy?"

The straw hat boy ignored the onlookers and began to look around once again. Once he spotted the other barrel lying on the floor, he quickly picked it up with his hands to set it straight up. "Oi, Goku! Wake up!" he said as he opened the top of the barrel. Everyone in the room went over to see that there was another person inside. Their mouths went even wider, gaping in shock in seeing another person inside a barrel.

The straw hat sighed. "Damn, he is fast asleep," he said. After a few seconds of thinking, he pounded his right fist onto the palm of his left hand. "That's right. I know the best way to wake him up. Oi Goku! Breakfast is ready!"

Upon that instance, the second person popped out of the barrel, breaking it into pieces and immediately searched around. "Breakfast?!" he said as he looked around. Everyone in the room had their eyes popping out in shock as they got a good look at the new incomer. He was very tall and muscular. He had wild spiky black hair and was wearing a white tank-top; over it opened a dark green Chinese shirt with white on the sleeves. Spring green gi pants with a brown and gold belt. He had black fighter boots and wrapped around his chest was a faded pastel yellow sac. He had red-orange wristbands and a red staff strapped to his back. What was most interesting was that behind his back was a brown monkey tail wagging around.

As soon as this new person got a good look at his surrounding, he started to pout. "Aww Luffy, you tricked me. There is no food here," he said.

"Shishishishi! Don't worry Goku. I'm sure we will find some food here and continue our adventure."

Goku's pouting quickly ended. "You're right." Within moments, Goku looked around and saw the pirates for the first time. "Hey, who're you guys?"

"THAT'S WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO ASK YOU TWO!" The pirates yelled.

"That guy's gonna catch cold if he sleeps there, y'know," Luffy stated, pointing to the unconscious pirate on the floor.

"YOU DID THAT!" The two pirates then pulled out their swords, ready to slice up the newcomers into pieces. "Are you toyin' with us even when you know we're pirates?!"

"Man, I'm starting to get hungry," Luffy said as he completely ignored the two pirates and looked at his partner in crime. "Goku, let's ask if they have any food."

Goku nodded happily as he raised his fist in the air. "Yeah!"

"Listen when people are talking!" exclaimed the two pirates. Pissed off for not being taken seriously, the two remaining pirates prepared for the attack. "You damn kids!" Coby shrieked in fear as Goku and Luffy turned around to see the two pirates up in the air, ready to slice off the newcomers. "Die!" Coby shut his eyes and was sure to hear the two strangers screaming but it never came. Instead he could swear he heard a spring and something snapping. Coby opened and saw the two pirates sitting on their bums and shaking in fear as their swords were cut in half while Luffy and Goku stood unharmed.

"What's the big idea?" Luffy questioned.

"W-who are you?!" asked the two pirates once more.

"Me?" Goku and Luffy asked in unsion.

Luffy introduced himself first. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meetcha!"

"Ossu, I'm Son D. Goku!" Goku said cheerfully.

The pirates, scared stiff by what just recently happened, picked up their unconscious pirate companion and left the room in a hurry. As they left a trail of dust in their wake, Luffy titled his head to the side a bit in confusion. "What the… What just happened?" he asked.

"What's with them?" Goku asked as he scratched his head, looking confused as to why the two pirates ran away so quickly.

Quickly getting out of his shocked state, the pink haired boy rushed to the two new incomers with a concerned look on his face. "R-run, hurry!" Coby stated in concern. "If they come back with their friends, you two will be killed!"

Ignoring Coby's plea, Goku continued on speaking as he looked at his companion, Luffy. "But man, I sure am hungry!"

"Me too!" the straw hat boy nodded. "Let's go find some food Goku!"

"Ossu!"

"How can you two be so carefree?!" Coby exclaimed with anime tears running down his face. "There are still lots more of them up on deck!"

Completely ignoring the pink haired boy, Goku and Luffy began to look around for food. After a few seconds of searching, they noticed the second door in the kitchen and opened it to take a look inside the mysterious room. Upon immediately entering the room, the two 'monkeys' found themselves in the storage room filled with food!

"Food! Food! Food! Yes! Food!" Goku and Luffy exclaimed excited as bright sparkles were showing around their faces, illuminating a bit the room.

As the two 'monkeys' stared at the boxes that contained food, Coby decided to come inside with them and closed the door behind him. "Actually, they might not find us in here!" he stated, hoping that two new strangers knew what they were doing.

But it didn't seem so as they again ignored the pink haired boy. They began to search frantically on which box to start. "Which should I choose?" Both of them said as they began their frantic search.

Luffy was the first one to find his box of food. "This box? Ooh, jackpot!" he said excitedly.

Goku, at last, noticed and looked at Coby as Luffy started to open the box that he had recently found. "Pinky half-pint, what's your name?"

"M-m-me? M-my name is Coby," replied the pink-haired boy. The boy was still baffled by the two 'Monkeys' attitudes and antics. "You're Luffy-san and Goku-san, right? That was incredible just now! How did you two do that?!"

"I don't know," Luffy answered as he had already stuffed himself with food that was found in the box. "We just did."

"Pinky half-pint, do you know if there are any boats onboard?" Goku asked as he also began to stuff himself with food.

"I-I think so…"

"Our ship got swallowed by this giant whirlpool…" Luffy commented as he began to eat more of the food as did Goku.

"You mean _that _whirlpool?!" Coby exclaimed with his eyes widening in surprise. "No one could survive that!"

"Boy, was that a real surprise!" Luffy said as he let out a laugh with Goku joining in as well, being very carefree as they were. It seemed nothing was bothering them even though they were in enemy territory, especially in the presence of a feared pirate like Alvida.

"Hey, pinky half-pint," Goku said as he turned his attention toward Coby, "are you one of those pirates, too?"

"No I am not. I never wanted to be in a pirate crew. It was on that fateful day…" Coby started his tale of how he got captured and forced into the pirate crew. "That day, I got in a boat on the outskirts of town to go fishing… but it turned out the boat was actually headed for a pirate ship. It's been two years since… In exchange for my life, I've been forced to be a chore boy."

"That's no fun," Goku commented.

"Man, you're dumb and stupid!" Luffy added.

"Seriously."

Coby started to cry anime tears upon hearing those comments. "You two are brutally honest…"

"If you don't like it, then run away," Goku said.

"I-I can't!" Coby shouted as he shook his head. "No way! No way! Just the thought of Alvida-sama finding me frightens me and makes me weak in the knees."

"Oh, you're a wimp, too?" Luffy commented.

Coby was about to protest on Luffy's comment but he knew it was true. "Yeah… That's right… If only I had the courage to drift the ocean in a barrel…"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Meanwhile the three pirates from earlier that Goku and Luffy had taken out had finally crawled back to Alvida. She stared down at the three pirates with a displeased look on her face. However, she was a bit nervous at the thought that someone had the audacity to attack her ship.

"There are two intruders…" whimpered the crewmember.

"What are you sure?" asked Alvida.

"Yes… I didn't get a good look at them but one of them was a guy with black spiky hair… that's all I can tell…" said the crewmember.

"It must be the Demon Pirate Hunters… Roronoa Zoro and Piccolo…" Alvida said, pounding the ground with her signature huge iron club in anger. "I knew that they would eventually find me. I might as well give them a greeting that they will never forget."

* * *

_Meanwhile, back with Luffy, Goku and Coby…_

"There's actually something I want to do, too," Coby mumbled as Luffy and Goku continued to eat.

Goku momentarily stopped eating as he turned towards the pink haired boy. "What did you say now, pinky half-pint?" he asked.

"N-Nothing!" Coby said while waving his arms in front of him as he felt embarrassed to tell about his lifelong dream. He needed to change the subject before he further embarrassed himself. "So what compelled you two to set out onto the sea, Luffy-san, Goku-san?" he asked the two vacuum cleaners of food.

The two just smiled as they gulped the food they were currently eating and said in unison, "We're pirates!"

Coby almost fell over, shuddering in fear at the two 'monkeys' exclamation. "P-P-P-Pi-Pirates?!"

Goku nodded. "That's right. We're going to gather up a pirate crew and get a ship so we can sail the Grand Line and make our dreams come true!"

Coby blinked a few times. "D-Dreams?"

Goku threw out his signature grin. "I am going to gather the Dragon Balls and become the Dragon Master!"

The young pink-haired boy's eyes flung wide open once he heard the words. "D-D-Dragon Balls!?"

"And I'm the man who will be King of the Pirates!" Luffy grinned.

Coby couldn't take it, gaping in shock at their dreams and how easily they seemed so happy in saying it. "You two are crazy!" he exclaimed. "No way! No way, no way, no way! Absolutely no way! There's no way you two can stand at the apex of this Great Pirate Era! Going to the Grand Line is crazy, no it's suicide! It is known as the pirate graveyard! If you're planning to be the Pirate King and Dragon Master you need to find the legendary One Piece. And the Dragon Balls don't get me started! It is just a legend! No one has ever been able to collect all seven and I'm pretty sure Gold Rogers did not collect all seven of them! You have to be an idi–"

But before Coby could continue, Luffy hit him on the head. "Why did you hit me?" the pink haired boy asked, holding his head in pain.

"Just because," Luffy responded bluntly.

"But it's all right. I'm used to it now…"

"Pinky half-pint, it's not about whether we can or not," Goku started as he and Luffy stood up from their spots.

"We are gonna do it because we want to," Luffy said as he took off his straw hat and looked at it while Goku took out an orange looking ball from a brown sack that was tied to his sash. Coby had no idea what that ball but it definitely looked important as he noticed Goku's expression was the same as Luffy's. "We made a promise to a friend that we'd be the best pirates in the world," Luffy continued. He then plopped his straw hat back on his head as Goku nodded in agreement. "And because of that, we set out to fulfill our dreams. If we die fighting for that, that's fine with us!"

Coby was in awe at Luffy's declaration of both his and Goku's dream. "Now, then! My belly's full! How about you, Goku?" The straw hat boy asked.

"Me too!" replied the spikey haired warrior as he placed the orange ball back into its place in the brown sack. "Guess we should go get us a boat! I wonder if they'll give us one if we ask."

"Hopefully they're generous."

Goku and Luffy then proceeded to walk towards the exit of the storage room, noticing that Coby hadn't moved at all since hearing about their dreams. "I never once thought about it… Do you suppose I can do it, too?" Coby finally spoke after a few moments of silence. "If I'm prepared to die for it?"

"Do what?" Luffy asked.

"Do you think… even I could join the Marines?" Coby questioned.

"Marines?" Goku repeated.

"Yes!" Coby exclaimed excitedly. "Catching bad guys is my dream! It's been my dream ever since I was little! Do you think I can do it?!"

"How should I know?" Luffy questioned.

"No! I'll do it! If I'm gonna be a chore boy for the rest of my life, then I'll break out of here and catch even Alvida-sama – no, Alvida!"

"Coby!" A rough sounding female voice boomed as something tore through the ceiling of the storage room. "You're gonna team up with them to catch _who_?! Huh, Coby?!" Coby flinched and shook in fear the mysterious voice came from none other than the fat ugly Lady Pirate Captain Alvida. Behind her stood a large crew, who ready to pounce on the intruders at Alvida's command.

Noticing Goku and Luffy, Alvida grinned evilly, letting out a quiet sigh as well. "Well, it looks like these two are obviously not those pirate hunters Piccolo and Zoro," Alvida said. "They are just two scrawny brats!"

"Piccolo and Zoro?" Goku and Luffy repeated quizzically.

"Coby!" Alvida said, grabbing Coby's attention wholeheartedly as he trembled in fear. "Who's the most beautiful of all on these seas?!"

Coby proceeded to stay quote that he had memorized ever since being forcefully joined to the Alvida Pirates. "O-of course that would be–"

"Oi Coby, who's the ugly old biddy?" Luffy asked. Everyone gasped; their mouths wide open and gaping. He

"Hoo boy, _he_ sure is chunky too," Goku added. More gasps of shock.

"Biddy? Chunky?" One pirates said as he gulped loudly.

"Not good…" said another one of Alvida's pirate crew. They knew full well what was going to happen next.

Alvida's rage burned up as several angry tick marks appeared on her face. She didn't like being called that, especially by two brats like Goku and Luffy. "You two are dead!" she roared in anger as she swung her iron club at the two 'monkeys'. Luckily, the two of them seemed well prepared and dodged the attack accordingly.

"Let's go!" Luffy said as he grabbed Coby and jumped with Goku onto the ship's deck. Upon landing, they immediately saw that they were a few pirates to launch an attack at the two 'monkeys'. Goku and Luffy were able to easily deal the incoming attacks as they punched and did their counterattacks. Within moments, the pirates were no match for Goku's and Luffy's strength.

Goku and Luffy, after defeating the pirates that were on the deck, grinned at their supposed victory. But when they turned around, they noticed a large crew standing before them, all equipped with knives, gun and anything that would be deadly to use. Upon seeing that, Goku and Luffy did only course of action. They… started to run away? Coby couldn't believe it. He, and almost everyone else, would have thought that Goku and Luffy would try to fight the crew rather than run away.

However, it seemed that that was their plan after all. As Luffy grabbed the main mast, his arm started to stretch into considerable lengths as he and Goku ran further away from the mast. The Alvida pirates stopped their chasing when they noticed Luffy's arm stretching. They immediately looked at the two 'monkeys' and their expressions. "Got ya!" Goku and Luffy both said with a grin on their faces.

Then, Luffy started to pull back even further as if he were about to spring himself. Grabbing onto him was Goku as a weird strange flame white-like aura surrounded the spikey haired man. Then, that strange white aura surrounded Luffy as well! Who were these guys?! The two 'monkeys' then proceeded to shout out their attacks.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

"Qi Qi no…"

"CHARGE ROCKET!" Then Luffy sprang from his location as he and Goku crashed into the large pirate crew and easily knocking them out like it was nothing. All of the crew stood motionless as Goku and Luffy stood right back up and pounded each other's fists while grinning.

Coby, meanwhile, was in complete shock and his mouth was gaping, especially after seeing an attack like that! "Luffy-san… Goku-san… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO?" Coby was shocked, but more shocked to see Alvida standing right behind him. Sensing anger coming from the fat lady, the pink haired boy quickly hid behind Luffy and Goku.

"You two haven eaten Devil Fruits, haven't you?" The fat ugly lady pirate asked, seeing the two 'monkeys' combined attack.

"Yep," Luffy and Goku said in unsion.

Luffy then grinned his trademark grin. "I ate the Gumo Gumo no Mi (The Gum Gum Fruit). I'm a rubber man!"

Goku also smiled his trademark smile. "And I ate the Qi Qi no Mi (The Ki Ki Fruit). I have access to the inner energy in my body, thus becoming an energy man!"

"You know, it doesn't sound as cool as mine Goku," Luffy commented.

"I know but I really wanted to try it out," the spikey haired boy with a large grin on his face.

"I see!" Alvida responded. "I'd heard the rumors, but I guess they really _do_ exist! You two also seem pretty skilled. Are you bounty hunters?"

Goku and Luffy shook their heads as they both let out their signature grins on their faces. "We're pirates!" Both of them stated in unsion.

"Pirates?! Hah!" Alvida laughed. "All by yourselves?!"

"It's just us right now, but we'll find some more sooner or later!" Goku responded.

"Yeah… 20 crewmen sounds good to me!" Luffy added.

"Hahahaha! Ah, so you two are pirates too, huh?! Then that means you and me are enemies, huh?"

"L-Luffy-san! G-Goku-san!" Coby pleaded to the two 'monkeys'. "Let's get out of here!"

"Why?" Goku and Luffy both asked in unsion.

"You saw how powerful her club is! In these waters, she's the most – " Suddenly, Coby stopped talking as he noticed the looks on both Goku's and Luffy's faces. He then remembered each of their inspiring words. Sure they may look like a couple of idiots but they had courage and ambition. Something he never had before. Until now…

"I'm the most what?!" Alvida asked angrily.

"T-t-the… The most ugly, cragged old hag ever!" Coby screamed with tears flowing down his eyes. The Alvida Pirates crew was shell shocked and gaping at Coby's statement. Alvida, meanwhile, shrieked and was even angrier than before. At the same time, Goku and Luffy laughed wholeheartedly at the scene.

"What did you say?!" Alvida asked once again.

"I… I'm going to join the Marines! And then I'm gonna beat up pirates!

"Do you even know what you're saying?!"

"I do! I'm gonna do what I want to do! I'm gonna… I'm gonna join the Marines… and catch your lousy ass!"

"You damn pipsqueak!" roared Alvida as she swung her iron mace at Coby. _'I-I did it! No regrets! No regrets! I fought for my dreams! I may die but I did it!'_

However, his death didn't come. He didn't feel the iron club on him. Did Alvida miss? Slowly opening his eyes, Coby gaped at an unexpected scene before him. There, in front of him, stood Goku, holding back the massive iron club with just his bare hand. "Good job Coby. You stuck up for yourself," Goku said. Coby was in awe, especially when Goku had finally started using the pink haired boy's real name.

Alvida, meanwhile, was struggling at taking back her club from Goku's grip. "What the!? I can't move!" she roared. Goku grinned as he crushed the iron club with his bare hand. Alvida stepped back a bit in shock as she just watched a man destroy her signature iron club. Not even the strongest enemies that she faced in the East Blue had left a dent, but this man, this 'energy man' was able to do it! Who was he?!

Rather than question him, Alvida proceeded to attack Goku even without her club with an over the head punch. Goku grinned as he immediately ducked down. Alviad wondered why the spikey haired boy would duck when she was about to slam him but she then saw why he did so. Behind him was Luffy, preparing his signature technique as he pulled back his fist and shot it out like a pistol!

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy shouted as he hit the fat lady pirate squarely in the stomach and sending her flying into the sky and out of sight.

Her pirate crew stood shocked. Their eyes were popping out and their mouths gaping. "Ah! Alvida-sama!" they shouted.

"Oi!" Luffy now turned to the crew, quickly getting out of their shocked stated. They stared nervously at the two 'monkeys', wondering what they were going to do to them now.

Goku continued with the order. "Give Coby a small boat! He's going to join the Marines!"

Then Luffy added to the order, "Keep your mouths shut and let him go!"

"Y-yes sir!" The crew cried, running away.

And so, Goku and Luffy sailed away with Coby in a ship that Alvida's pirate crew had provided. Coby let out a sigh of relief. "Looks like we managed to get away…" he stated.

"That was fun! We should do that again!" Luffy commented, laughing at what just happened as if nothing bothered him.

"Hey I was wondering… who was that Zola and Flute that the chunky guy said about?" Goku asked. "What are they like?"

"Oh you mean Roronoa Zoro and Piccolo?" Coby replied. The spiked haired hero nodded. "They're two extremely strong bounty hunters. They are powerful sword technique practitioners. I heard they not only kill their prey but feed their remains to the sharks and Sea Kings! They even gave Piccolo the nickname Piccolo Daimao, the Demon King!"

"That is so cool!" Luffy said, his eyes sparkling a bit upon hearing Piccolo's nickname.

"But why is Flute called the Demon King?" Goku asked.

"Because I heard that he looks like the devil incarnate whenever he cuts down an enemy," Coby replied. "Plus, I also heard that he has green skin. I think they were arrested and are being held at the nearest Marine base," said Coby. "We definitely should avo–"

But Coby didn't finish his sentence as Goku and Luffy were too busy grinning like crazy and having a few sparkles in their eyes. "A green guy?!" Goku said excitedly.

"They must be good guys! They'll make perfect crew members!" Luffy claimed.

"Do you think Zola has green skin?" Goku asked.

"I don't know but we can find out."

"You two can't be serious!?" Coby exclaimed. "They are dangerous people! We should stay the hell away from them. You two are being reckless again!"

"It's decided then! We will have them join up with us! So set sail!" Luffy said, raising his right hand up high in the air with Goku following suit.

"Ossu!"

"You two are nuts…" mumbled Coby. Neither of them listened as they sailed onto the sea and onto the Marine Base that was nearby.

* * *

**Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I wanted to follow the first episode of the One Piece anime rather than the first chapter of the One Piece manga. Just to let you know that this will not be your average Cross Epoch story. I hope you guys enjoyed Goku's Devil Fruit name. Qi is chinese for power which in Japanese means Chikara. In Dragon Ball, they say Qi as it is pronounced as "ki" in Japanese so I wanted to keep that part. And don't worry, I will show how Goku and Luffy got their devil fruits in another chapter.**

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I want to hear how I did. See you later! Peace!**


	2. The Demon Pirate Hunter Duo!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. See chapter 1 for more details.

**Author's note: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I'm doing good here in Japan but it is starting to get really hot. I can't get used to this Japanese humidity. It's crazy! I'm sweating bullets here. I just wish though that at my work place where I work as an ALT, they would put some fans or turn the AC! But they don't because they want to save money and be helpful to the environment. I understand the argument but what about the students? Anyways enough of my ranting.**

**Looking at the reviews of the previous chapter, I noticed that there weren't a lot. I hope with this new chapter that can change especially what I have planned for this series. And I know some of my fans will be a little mad that I have update this series rather than my flagship story, Saiyan in Mahora, before this one. This doesn't mean that I have abandoned it. Not at all! I promise to update Saiyan in Mahora as quickly as I can but at the moment, this one story is more interesting especially when I am surrounded by the two series at work and in Japan.**

**There are a few things that you should know about what I have planned for this series. I have placed it at the bottom so as to not delay my readers from reading this chapter.**

**And now I present to you Chapter 2 of Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure! Enjoy!**

* * *

Log 2: Bring out the Swordsmen! The Demon Pirate Hunter Duo!

Last time, our two heroes had set sailed to search for the Demon Pirate Hunters, Piccolo and Zoro with a pink haired boy named Coby. Son D. Goku and Monkey D. Luffy were excited at the prospect of recruiting the pirate hunting duo to their pirate crew. But after an hour or so of sailing, the two 'monkeys' were bored and '_surprisingly'_ hungry. "I'm… so… hungry…" Luffy whined, lying on the ground as his stomach growled loudly.

"Me too…" Goku mumbled as he laid next to his best friend. His stomach also growled loudly. Sitting back up and looking at the pink haired boy who was currently steering the ship, the spiky haired hero asked, "Damn, how long till we get to the island, Coby? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I want some meat!"

Coby adjusted his glasses. "We'll be there in about 10 minutes or so. How can you call yourselves pirates if you two can't even navigate?" The reason on why he asked was that after sailing away from Alvida and her pirate crew for a few minutes, they had gotten lost for a good long while since both Goku and Luffy were navigating the boat. They kept on shouting out random directions, thinking that eventually they would come across the correct path. But thanks to Coby's skills, they were back on track.

"Shishishi," chuckled the straw hat captain. "Goku and I don't know anything about navigating. But don't worry. Soon, we will get our navigator with me being the captain and Goku being my first mate."

"Wait, I thought I was going to be the captain, Luffy," Goku protested.

"You dumbass. You lost to me in rock paper scissor match, remember? When we made our promise with Ace and Sabo?"

Goku blinked a few times as he tried hard to remember that memory. Coby wasn't sure if he was seeing things but it was looking like Goku was seriously thinking. Then within a few seconds, Goku exclaimed as he hit his right palm with a left fist. "Oh that's right! I remember! Hehehehe!" laughed the spikey haired pirate.

Coby was a little lost for a moment, wondering who were 'Ace' and 'Sabo' before Goku brought him back into the conversation. "Coby, you shouldn't worry about us. We will gather a mighty crew. We'll have some strong fighters, a navigator, a doctor, a very good cook that'll make us delicious stuff, and…"

"A musician! We need a musician to play music because pirates love to sing and dance!" Luffy added.

"Yeah! And a cook to make us lots of food!"

"You already said cook, Goku-san… twice," Coby said. _'Geez, these guys make up for brain power in strength. These two are complete morons! _The pink haired boy said to himself. "But why do you guys want to recruit Piccolo and Zoro? They are both demons in the form of a man."

"Oh yeah?"

"So let's drop the idea of recruiting them," Coby protested.

"We haven't made up our minds about recruiting them yet," Luffy commented.

"But if they are good people then…" Goku added before being interrupted by Coby's outburst.

"They were arrested because they were bad people!" the pink haired boy shouted.

* * *

After traveling for some time, the trio had finally arrived to the island, Shell Island where Zoro and Piccolo were being held. As the island came into closer view, the trio could see a huge Marine Base at the top of the island. Once they reached the island's port, Luffy was the first to jump out of the small dingy as he yelled at the top of his lungs, "HELLO ISLAND! MY NAME IS LUFFY!"

Goku followed suit as he landed next to Luffy. "OSSU! AND I'M GOKU!"

"AND WE'RE HUNGRY!" yelled the two 'monkeys' in unison.

"Shut up you two!" exclaimed the pink haired boy. "You're both pirates remember? You want the marines to hear you?" Coby hissed as he looked around the port, thinking that maybe the marines might mistake him for a pirate and find out that he had been working for Alvida for the past two years. After that outburst, he sniffed a bit. "I g-guess this is goodbye, Goku-san, Luffy-san. After this, we'll be enemies, but we'll still be friends and… hey!" Coby then noticed Goku and Luffy walking into town, completely ignoring the pink haired boy's speech.

"Let's find a restaurant with good food," Goku said proudly.

"You're right, Goku," Luffy responded to his companion. Coby let out a sigh. What was he going to do with them? Not too long after, the trio sat in a restaurant with Coby just staring at the pirates and their eating. His eyes kept on widening and widening while his mouth gaped even further down as empty plates and empty bowls were being stacked up incredibly high. Not only that, the stack kept getting higher and higher.

"Um… Goku-san… Luffy-san… I know I said earlier that I'd pay but…" Coby said as he began to cry with anime tears, "I don't think I can afford this…"

"If you're joining here, then you can start a tab," Luffy deadpanned with his mouth full of another meat roll.

Coby sweat dropped at Luffy's blunt comment. "Uh… yeah…" he said.

After a few minutes of eating, both 'monkeys' were finally done as they patted their full stomachs. Coby paid as much as he could on the food, leaving the rest on a tab to pay for later. As they were walking upwards to the Marine base on the island, Goku asked the pink haired boy, "So what does Zolo and Flute dude look like again?"

Coby was confused at first at who Goku was referring to, but he later realized what the spikey haired pirate meant and sighed. "Goku-san, you mean Zoro and Piccolo?" He had earlier corrected Goku on their names before but it seemed that the spikey haired pirate had forgotten them. Or maybe not… hopefully. However, as soon as the pink haired boy mentioned the two names, the whole town jumped in fear.

The trio blinked a few times in confusion. "That was weird," Goku commented.

"What were you saying?" asked Coby.

"Well what does those two look like? I remember that you told us something about Zolo and Flute before but I can't seem to remember," Goku mentioned.

Coby shook his head. _Of course he forgot, _Coby said to himself. "Well, I hear Piccolo," Coby started before the whole town jumped again at the mention at the name. The trio blinked a few times in confusion before the pink haired boy continued speaking. "He is known for his white turban and white cape and I hear he has green skin. He also carries a long katana sword with a strange inscription on the scabbard."

"Green skin?!" Luffy excitedly said.

"Weird sword?!" Goku added.

"Cool!" cheered the two pirates.

_Did they really forget already? _The pink haired boy asked himself as he was referring to when he had described the Pirate Hunter Duo earlier after leaving Alvida's ship. "While Zoro…" Coby continued but then the town jumped once more. "Maybe we shouldn't mention their names…" whispered Coby to the heroic and goofy duo.

"Yeah I guess," Goku said.

"Makes sense," Luffy said.

Coby quickly changed the subject. "Well, I heard Captain Morgan is the leader of this base," said the pink haired boy. Once again, the entire town jumped at the mere mention of the Marine Captain's name.

"What's with them?" Goku asked, scratching the back of his head in his trademark way.

"I don't know," Luffy said with a big smile on his face. "It's kinda funny town don't yah think?" He said while laughing. Goku had joined in as well, seeing how this place can be interesting to Luffy.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Luffy-san, Goku-san," Coby said. "I could understand why they'd be scared after hearing Roronoa Zoro's and Piccolo's name, since they could escape at any time, but why would they be afraid of a Marine Captain's name too?!"

"Well, he could've done something bad, right?" Luffy stated.

"That's impossible!" the pink haired boy cried as he tried to defend the Marine Captain's honor. However, the conversation was over once they had made their way to the base.

* * *

_A few minutes later..._

Once they had arrived at the Marine base, the trio looked up and saw it was a very tall blue tower with tiger stripes surrounded by a brick wall.

"So, are you going to join?" Luffy asked.

"Um… well I'm not so sure…" muttered Coby.

"You join up, we're going to look for Zoro and Piccolo," Luffy stated as he went off searching.

"W-W-Wait, Luffy-san, I'm sure that they are locked away in a secret room or something. Not out in the open," Coby commented.

Goku jumped and looked over the fence to see ahead. "Oi! I see a guy over there!" he said to his friends as he ran ahead. Luffy ran behind the spikey haired pirate, with Coby following close behind. All three jumped up a wall and saw something or better yet, someone. On the other side of the wall, the trio saw two men being held on two separate poles next to each other. They were tried around these poles as if they were being crucified.

The one on the right to them was a 19 year old man dressed in a plain white shirt with three undone buttons at the collar. He also wore black trousers tucked inside black boots as well as a green haramaki around his waist and had three long earrings on his left ear. However, what was most interesting feature was his cropped green hair that was hidden underneath a black bandanna that was tied around his head. "Th-Th-The bandanna… the haramaki… the intimidating aura… that's Roronoa Zoro!" cried Coby.

"So that's the Zolo dude," muttered Goku. "But wait, who is the green-looking dude that is next to him?"

"Huh?" Coby said as he looked at the other figure next to Zoro. He wore a white turban and a dark navy dogi with a red belt around his waist. He also wore strange brown shoes. He had very pointed ears, pointed nails that looked like claws on his fingers, and his skin was… green! It was really green! Coby trembled even further as he immediately recognized that person. "T-Th-That turban… th-the green skin… the demonic aura surrounding him… it's Piccolo Daimao, the Demon King…!"

"Really?" Luffy and Goku said in unison as the two pirates looked at the second figure, trying to get a closer look at the mysterious green man. And sure enough, it was true. But something caught the attention of the two 'monkeys'. They felt strong auras coming from them. Goku let out a small grin. "This is so exciting! I feel so fired up being so close to them. But I don't see why they haven't broken free from those ropes. They look strong!"

"Hey, maybe if we release them then they'll join up with us!" Luffy exclaimed. Goku nodded and was about to add something else before being interrupted by Coby.

"S-Stop joking!" the pink haired boy protested. "If you free them, they could make a mess in the town and even kill you two!"

"Hey! You three!"

"Huh?" the trio said as they noticed it was Zoro yelling at them.

"If you're done staring then get lost! You don't want the marines to get you now do you?"

Coby seemed to tremble in fear even more. "Maybe we should listen to him," the pink haired boy whispered to Goku and Luffy.

"Don't listen to this green haired dumbass," spoke another voice. This time, it was coming from the green man, Piccolo. "I, on the other hand, would love for the Marines to come here so I can crush them," he said with a demonic look in his eyes. "Cut me down so I can prove to everyone that I am a stronger swordsman than this weakling over here."

"Hmph, we will see about that," Zoro responded with a similar demonic grin.

"Don't do it, guys! Don't be tricked by his words!" the pink haired pleaded. "If you free them, they'll kill us and escape!"

"They can't kill us," Luffy responded with a calm look on his face.

"Huh?"

"Because… we are strong too," Goku added. "It would take a lot of effort for someone to beat us." Coby started to cry anime tears. _These two are hopeless after all!_

Just then a little girl in pigtails showed up next to the trio carrying a ladder and placed it against the wall and started to climb. As she climbed the ladder, the trio noticed that she was holding something and seeing that they were looking at her, she put her index finger on her lips to indicate them to be quiet. She then climbed over the wall and ran over to where Zoro and Picoolo were.

"That little girl is in danger!" muttered Coby. "Goku-san, Luffy-san, go and help her!" But Goku and Luffy said and did nothing as the trio watched the scene unfold. The little girl tried to give Zoro rice balls that she had made herself. However, he refused them and told her to leave. She then turned to Piccolo and tried to ask but the green man wasn't talking. Suddenly, two marines and a weird man showed up. This weird person was a skinny and lanky-looking young man with light blond hair shaped like an oval on top of his head and a big cleft chin. He wore a snappy violet colored uniform with white shoes and a rubber band ring on his left hand.

"That must be an officer! He'll save the little girl for sure!" said positively Coby. Goku and Luffy still didn't say anything as they tried to listen in to the conversation between the Marines, the little girl and the two Demon Pirate Hunters.

"Roronoa Zoro!" shouted the blond man, whose name was Helmeppo. "Don't pick on little kids or else I'll have to report to my father about it. And the same goes to you, greenie."

Once he mentioned Piccolo, the green warrior turned his demonic attention towards the scrawny lad, scaring him a bit. "Tch," sounded Piccolo with a small evil grin on his face. "Look who it is. If it isn't the Captain's bastard son coming for a visit."

"D-Don't get cocky Piccolo," Helmeppo stuttered a bit. "Y-You should calm yourself down before I tell my father about your tone of voice towards me."

"Why don't _you_ make me?"

Helmeppo gulped a bit before turning his attention to the little girl and her rice balls. "Well hello, little girl," the blond lad said as he took one of her rice balls. "These rice balls look pretty delicious." But once he tasted them, he spat the piece that he just eaten out and onto the dirt floor. "Blegh! Horrible! You put too much sugar in it! You're supposed to put salt in these things."

"Bu-But I thought they'll taste better if they're sweet!" explained the little girl. However, Helmeppo didn't listen as he tossed the remaining rice balls on the dirt and began to stomp on them repeatedly. The little girl repeated tried to stop him but couldn't. Now her rice balls were mixed in the dirt, making them inedible. "That's so cruel!" the little girl cried. "I-I tried really hard to make them!"

"Aww, don't cry," mocked Helmeppo. "It's no wonder why I hate little brats so much." Pointing at a sign that was next to the two Pirate Hunters, the blond scrawny lad explained. "Didn't you see the sign? It says, 'Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime. Marine Captain Morgan.' You know how scary my dad can be, right?"

The little girl began to grow a little paler after hearing about Helmeppo's father. "You would've gotten the death penalty if you were a grown-up," the blond lad said. "Oi! Soldier! Throw this brat out!"

"Huh?!" The Marine soldier said in a confused voice. "But she is just a little girl!"

"I don't care!" Helmeppo said as he grabbed the collar of the Marine soldier. "I'm telling you to throw her outta here! Are you trying to disobey me?! I'm telling my Dad if you don't do as you are told!"

"Ay-Aye sir! It will be done," the Marine soldier said as he grabbed the little girl. "I'm sorry miss," he whispered to her before throwing her over the wall. Luffy was able to catch her on the other side.

"Are you okay?" Coby asked tenderly.

Meanwhile, back with Zoro, Piccolo and Helmeppo, the blond scrawny lad continued to talk. "It's impressive," Helmeppo complimented. "I didn't think you two would have this kind of endurance!"

"Of course we would," Piccolo responded.

"After all, that was the promise, remember?" Zoro added.

"Yeah, yeah," Helmeppo said. "I promised that if you two were able to survive one month like this, then I would let you live."

"You better keep your promise, bastard son," Piccolo snorted, which immediately an ire from Helmeppo.

"Don't you dare call me a bastard, you green monster!" shouted the blond scrawny lad as he proceeded to punish Piccolo by punching and kicking him as the green warrior stood defenseless against the scrawny lad's aggression.

"Oi! Leave him alone!" Zoro shouted and was about to continue before being hit from behind by one of the nearby Marines. He used the blunt part of the rifle to hit Zoro.

"Don't interfere with Helmeppo-sama's work," the Marine solider ordered with a small hint of disappointment in his voice. Zoro quickly noticed, maybe thinking that the Marine was desperately holding back his true feelings about the situation.

However, that didn't stop the swordsman from being nice. "Try _me_," Zoro said, looking straight back at the Marine with intimidating eyes, at which the Marine back off.

"Oh don't worry, Roronoa Zoro, I will give you some punishment later," Helmeppo said as he finished with his _work_ and gestured the two Marines to follow him. "See you two later!"

"That bastard," Zoro muttered angrily as soon as Helmeppo and the two Marines were out of sight.

"You didn't have to butt in, asshole," Piccolo grunted as some purple blood was oozing from his injuries on his body and head. "I was perfectly fine. I can deal with _this_, if it means getting closer to my dream."

"Of course, but I wasn't trying to butt in your affairs," Zoro responded. "I'm only trying to keep you alive so I can crush you later and become the strongest in order to achieve _my_ dream."

Piccolo smirked. "We will see about that. I might be the one to kill you first." Zoro grinned at the comment. However, none of it was going to matter if they weren't able to survive this ordeal that was laid upon them.

Meanwhile, back Luffy and the others, Coby wondered out loud, "Who was that weird jerk?" Hoping that Goku or Luffy knew something, the pink haired boy looked up but saw they were gone. Coby went up the ladder and noticed Goku and Luffy standing in front of the two roped warriors.

It took a few seconds for the Pirate Hunter Duo to realize that Goku and Luffy were standing in front of them. Piccolo was the first to speak. "Hey, you two," he said. "Why are you still here? Leave before that guy comes back and prisons you too."

"So?" Luffy deadpanned.

"Hurry up and leave," Zoro said.

Completely ignoring Zoro's plea, Goku stood a bit closer to the roped warriors. "Hey, why haven't you two broken out? You guys look strong. Besides, we are looking for people to join our pirate crew."

"Pirate crew?" Zoro repeated.

Piccolo chuckled as he noticed the physique of both Luffy and Goku, as well as seeing that the spikey haired pirate had a tail. "So, you gave up on life and decided to become a pirate. I can't blame you, especially you 'monkey' boy."

"There's nothing wrong with being a pirate!" Luffy stated firmly, his voice showing a little anger at the small insult that Piccolo did to his friend. "Besides, it's our dream to become great pirates!"

"Great pirates, huh? Don't make me laugh," Zoro said. "Let me guess. You two are here to free us so we can join your pirate crew. Not going to happen in a million years."

"Actually, we haven't decided on whether to have you two dudes join us," Goku said.

"Especially when everyone thinks you guys are bad people," Luffy added.

"Bad guys, huh? I can understand why people would think my green friend would be a bad guy especially when his nickname is Piccolo Daimao, but either way we don't care about what they think. We will never join you two because we both have something to take care of."

Piccolo let out a small grin after hearing Zoro's comment. "That's right. That bastard son told us that we could leave after one month of being imprisoned like this," he explained. "We are going to do everything in our power to stay alive and fulfill our dreams!"

Goku and Luffy both smiled at Piccolo's proclamation as well as his and Zoro's attitude toward the whole prisonment thing. If they were held up prisoner like these two, they wouldn't be able to survive at least a week. As they were about to head back to the village, Zoro stopped the two in their tracks by saying, "Hey, wait! Could you pick _that_ up for me and feed it to me?" He was looking at the rice balls that the little girl had made earlier and was stepped on by Helmeppo.

Goku and Luffy both blinked in confusion as the straw hat pirate picked up the soiled and mashed up rice ball. "You want to eat this?" he asked. "But the rice ball is all muddy and disgusting. Well, I guess you can't be picky about food when you're hungry."

"Just shut up and feed it to me!" Feeding the rice ball to his mouth, Zoro struggled to swallow the badly tasted food.

Luffy and Goku wondered if he was really serious on trying to survive one month since the rice ball might kill him in the process. Looking at the green warrior, Goku asked, "What about you, Flute dude?"

Thinking that maybe he was referring to his name, Piccolo quickly responded with a straight answer. "I don't need food to survive. I will eat when I need to but what I need most to survive is water."

"Wow, you are like a green plant," Goku commented.

"Don't call me green plant!" Piccolo barked. Zoro couldn't help but chuckle at the comment that the spikey haired pirate made as he finished his food.

"Hey, you two," Zoro said. "Tell that little girl that the rice balls were delicious. And also… thank you very much."

* * *

_Later…_

At the restaurant that the trio were eating earlier, Luffy and Goku were telling Coby and the little girl, now known as Rika, about what had happened between them and the Pirate Hunter Duo. "Really? He ate all of it?" the little girl asked. Both Goku and Luffy nodded. "I'm so happy!"

"I was thinking… killing pirates for their bounties is legal and it seems that they don't live up to their reputations, but why were Zoro and Piccolo arrested?" asked Coby.

"They are not to blame. It's my entire fault," the little girl, Rika, mumbled grimly. "It all started three weeks ago…" started Rika. "Helmeppo's dogs were on the loose again and some had tried to attack me. Trying to protect him, Zoro and Piccolo killed them as they had seen everyone so afraid of Helmeppo and his dogs. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have been arrested."

"Wow," Luffy commented. "So you are saying that they were arrested because of that weird guy?" Rika nodded in response.

"But a whole month? I wonder how long has he been out there?" Goku said thoughtfully.

"Three weeks," Rika muttered.

"I can't believe they did that…" Coby said grimly. "They aren't who I thought they were! I thought all Marines were great heroic men! Not monsters!"

"Marines are great but it is just the Morgans! They are the monsters!" Rika shouted angrily.

But before anyone else could add to that comment, the idiot son, better known as Helmeppo, suddenly showed up in the restaurant, making everyone bow before him as he took his seat. "Who dares raises his head?! Hahaha!" laughed the idiot son. "Listen up! Tomorrow I will be executing Zoro! I'll use him to set an example for all of you! It's gonna be pretty interesting."

Goku turned a bit wide-eyed and clenched his fist. "What!" he yelled.

"What about your promise to them?" Luffy asked. "Didn't you say you were going to give them one month?!"

Helmeppo just laughed. "Those two idiots were stupid for believing it!" Luffy and Goku started to get angry; this blond scrawny lad made a promise to the Pirate Hunter Duo and he intended to break it. Goku was about to make his move before seeing that Luffy had already started as he punched Helmeppo in the face, knocking the scrawny blond lad of his mighty chair and onto the floor. Everyone in the restaurant gasped in shock.

"No one's ever punched me!" Helmeppo screamed. "Besides do you have a death wish?! Picking a fight with me is like picking a fight with the Marines!"

"I don't care!" Luffy declared as Coby was trying to hold the straw hat pirate back from hurting Helmeppo even further. "Besides, we are pirates! And Zoro and Piccolo are both joining my crew!" Everyone in the restaurant gasped even further at the straw hat pirate's declaration.

Meanwhile, the Marines picked Helmeppo up as he yelled at Luffy and Goku, "I'm telling my father on you! You will be executed immediately!" And the two marines dragged him away.

Suddenly, everyone in the restaurant started to distance themselves from the trio as they didn't want to get involved in Captain Morgan's path of destruction. Even Rika's mother showed up and dragged her from them, thinking it was bad idea to be seen with them even though Rika thought that Luffy was amazing. Coby, meanwhile was freaking out. "Why did you do that, Luffy-san?!" he protested. "Now the Marine Captain will send Marines to get us! We're in trouble!"

"It is meaningless to hit people like him, especially when they don't have the guts to fight their own battles," Luffy commented as he planted his straw hat firmly on his head, ignoring Coby's protests. "Now, let's go get our new crew members!"

Goku grinned. "Alright then! Let's save Zoro and Piccolo!" the spikey haired pirate said confidently. Coby calmed down immediately when he looked at the spikey haired pirate. He was especially surprised when Goku's expression went to idiotic to the expression of a warrior, especially when he had said the Pirate Hunter Duo's name correctly. But could they really rescue Zoro and Piccolo without any trouble?

* * *

A few minutes later, the trio decided to head back up to the Marine Base to warn Piccolo and Zoro about Helmeppo's plan as well as the incoming attack from Helmeppo's father, the Axe-Hand Marine Captain Morgan. However, on the way there, Goku and Coby had lost track of Luffy. The pink haired boy was the first one to notice. "Hey, where is Luffy-san?! Shouldn't he be with us?!" he exclaimed.

"Don't worry about him," Goku said calmly as they continued walking. "Luffy can take care of himself."

"But he has already caused enough trouble by punching the Captain's son, Goku-san! Once he hears about this, the captain of this base will probably send Marines after us for hitting his son!" _And probably ending my dream of becoming an Admiral for the Marines someday!_

"So?" Goku asked quizzically. "I would have done the same thing too. That guy was really annoying. And besides, I was hoping to get a fight in soon. I'm feeling a bit rusty ever since we left that chunky biddy hag's ship." Coby had his mouth gaping. Who were these people that he gotten himself with?!

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Back at the field of the Marine Base where Zoro and Piccolo were being held, Luffy walked up to them, making a greeting at them. "Yo!"

Piccolo chuckled lightly. "Well, if it isn't Straw Hat again," he said. "What do you want? I thought we told you and your monkey friend that we don't want to be pirates!"

The straw hat pirate, completely ignoring Piccolo's comment, walked up to Zoro and introduced himself. "Hey, I'm Luffy," he said. "If I loosen you and the green guy's ropes, you two will join my crew, okay?"

"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear Piccolo before? We are not interested in becoming pirates!" Zoro stated. "We have things that we need to do. We are not going to become bad guys like you pirates are."

"That's the difference?" Luffy questioned. "Everyone already thinks you two are bad guys, especially you, green man. I hear that they call you the Demon King."

"Hmph, I couldn't give two shits what they say about me or Zoro," Piccolo responded. "We haven't done one thing that we would regret in the past and will be the same for the future."

"We live only for our dreams," Zoro added. "We won't and ever will be pirates."

"I don't care! You two are going to join me and Goku!"

"Don't decide for yourself, asshole!" barked the Pirate Hunter Duo.

"Hey," Luffy said, completely ignoring their rant and changing the topic, "I heard that you two use katanas, right?"

"Of course," scoffed Zoro. "We are swordsmen."

"Where are they?"

"That bastard son took it from us," Piccolo stated. "As swordsmen, it is one thing that we treasure above all other than our lives and dreams."

"Okay! I'm gonna go to where the bastard kid is and get your katanas back," Luffy stated. "But… if you want me to return them to you two, you both will have to join my crew."

"THAT'S DIRTY!" shouted the two.

"Okay! I'm going!" Luffy shouted before he ran towards the Marine Base to look for the Pirate Hunter Duo's swords, completely ignoring the duo's previous protest.

"Is he really planning on sneaking into the base?" Zoro questioned out loud. "He doesn't seem to be the type to sneak around. What a fool!"

"But you know, that straw hat boy is certainly interesting," Piccolo commented. "He is really keen on making us part of his crew."

"Like hell I will join him and his idiotic 'monkey' friend! If he is able to bring back my swords, I will just use him to get us out of here."

"Of course," the green warrior responded. "And after that, we will continue on our journey so I can finally kill you and become the strongest in the world."

Zoro chuckled slightly, a small grin appearing on his face. "We will see about that, 'Demon King'."

"There you are!" shouted a young-sounding voice, grabbing both Piccolo's and Zoro's attention. Running to them was Coby and Goku. "Have you seen Luffy-san?"

"You mean straw hat? He went inside the base to get our katanas back," Piccolo replied.

"What?! Already?! He's too hot-headed!" Coby barked while Goku laughed. "This isn't a laughing matter, Goku-san!"

"I know but it so like him," the spikey haired pirate responded with his trademark grin on his face. "I wouldn't worry too much about him. He wouldn't be killed so quickly before we had any chance of becoming King of the Pirates and Dragon Master."

"King of the Pirates?!" Piccolo exclaimed.

"Dragon Master?!" Zoro added.

"That's right. Nothing will stop us from achieving our goals."

Zoro and Piccolo immediately looked at Coby wondering what the hell was up with this spikey haired pirate. But the pink haired boy showed through facial expressions that both Luffy and Goku were really serious about achieving their dreams, no matter the cost and even it meant their lives. "But first," Goku said, grabbing the attention of everyone once more, "We have to get you out of here. They're going to execute you tomorrow."

"What?" asked Zoro in disbelief. "Nonsense! That bastard son promised us that if we could survive this for a month, he'd free us!"

"I knew it," Piccolo said, drawing a quizzical look from Zoro. "That low life was just messing with us, treating us like his play things. It was inevitable. I knew that bastard son would get bored someday and be done with us."

"You were right about that part," Goku responded. "When we heard about him trying to break his promise, I was about to kick his ass but Luffy beat me to the punch. He gave that weak dude a good beating for you guys."

Zoro and Piccolo stood a bit shocked. "What did you say?!" they both said, surprised at the fact that the two 'monkeys' would defend their honor so quickly even when they had refused to become part of their crew. Who were these guys?!

"So Zoro and Piccolo, it seems to me you two were planning a rebellion with that Straw Hat this whole time!" spoke the voice of Marine Captain Morgan. Morgan was a very tall, intimidating man with white-blond hair and a steel jaw. His right hand was replaced by a huge steel axe, the handle of which seems to go right through his forearm. He wore a large, billowing coat like a cape. And in his mouth was a cigar. "Everyone in this town is a traitor. After I kill you, I will punish the town for their transgressions against me, their superior and savior! They should be grateful!"

Goku clenched his fists angrily. "Don't you dare hurt the villagers! Leave them out of this!" he shouted. "They haven't done anything bad against you!"

"Oh yes they have!" shouted back Morgan. "They don't respect me so I must show them a lesson. And why don't we start by killing all of you here!" Coby shrieked when he heard that as he stood behind the spikey haired pirate while he got into a battle stance. "Any last words before you all die?"

"Yeah, I have one," Piccolo said with a grin on his face. "Stick that axe up your…"

"Fire!" yelled Captain Morgan before Piccolo could finish his sentence . Zoro, as well as Goku, Piccolo, and Coby were in their line of fire.

_It can't end like this__,_ thought the swordsman. He suddenly had a flashback of his dear friend and rival Kuina and his time at the dojo. Kuina was the strongest female swordsman he knew as well as being the first one to defeat him. He also remembered when Piccolo first came to the dojo and challenged Kuina and lost just like he did. But what he remembered most was how she hated being a girl because her father told her she could never be a true swordsman due to that fact. The promise she and Zoro made filled the swordsman's mind. He remembered how he reacted to the news of she death; that she had by falling down the stairs. The promise he made to Kuina and her father as well as to Piccolo. His dream… it was all going to end.

Just as the Marines were about to shoot, Luffy jumped out of a window, carrying multiple swords on his back and landed in front of them, directly in the line of fire of the rifles.

"He's crazy," breathed Zoro.

"That's insane," Piccolo muttered. Goku just smirked, knowing what was going to happen and got back to work on loosening the ropes.

The bullets hit Luffy, but it didn't kill him. Instead, they bounced off of him as if he were a balloon! Due to them being bounced back, the bullets were sent back their original direction, nearly missing the Marines. Coby almost fainted, Piccolo and Zoro's mouths were hanging open while Goku was just laughing hysterically.

"You two look like dead fish," Goku snorted as he had finally loosened the ropes on the Pirate Hunting Duo, thus freeing them from captivity while everyone's attention was on Luffy.

As they tried to regain their balance after being tied to a pole for so long, Piccolo and Zoro looked at the two 'monkeys' with one burning question in mind. "Who and what the hell are you guys?" they both asked.

Goku answered first. "I am the one who is to become Dragon Master!"

Luffy turned back at the group and smiled his trademark grin. "And I am the one who will become King of the Pirates." Zoro and Piccolo chuckled softly because at that moment, they had finally made their decision on whether or not to join Luffy's and Goku's pirate crew. Luffy took off the four swords that were on his back and gave them to Zoro and Piccolo. "Sorry I couldn't tell which one was yours," Luffy apologized.

"Three of them are mine," Zoro simply said as he grabbed three swords, while Piccolo grabbed a particular looking sword with a strange inscription on the scabbard. "I practice Santoryu, the three swords style."

"Santoryu?" Goku and Luffy asked quizzically.

Meanwhile, the Marines were trembling in fear at what just happened. "Th-that straw hat guy couldn't be shot," muttered one of the Marines in utter shock.

"You imbeciles! If he can't be shot, then cut him!" Captain Morgan commanded. Once they had heard their leader say that, most of the Marines got back their courage and turned towards the pirate group. Soon, the Marines had started to run towards the group.

"You take them. I think you have a point to prove, especially with your precious 'Santouyu'," Piccolo said lazily.

"Of course," Zoro said with a smirk on his face. Within moments, Zoro had used all three of his swords to block the Marines' swords. "One move and you die," Zoro said menacingly. The Marines that were being blocked immediately got scared and began to cry anime tears, thinking how scary Zoro was.

Zoro then turned his attention to the two 'monkey' pirates and said, "Look, I'll agree to join your crew however you must know about my goal. I want to be the World's Greatest Swordsman who is known far and wide and if being on your crew keeps me from this goal, I will make commit Seppuku and kill you both."

"World's Greatest Swordsman? Ha!" chuckled the green man as he blocked another incoming horde of Marines that came from the other side using his long katana. "I will be the one to take that title. But if you are able to take it, I will be the one to kill you, Roronoa Zoro and take it for myself. Either way, as long as our names are known world-wide, I will join this crew as well so long as I get to fight for that title with my eternal rival on an even playing field."

"Whatever green bean. It's a perfect opportunity to show that I'm better that you," Zoro hissed.

"And I'm going to be King of the Pirates. My best friend Goku here will be Dragon Master; anything less on my crew would make us look bad," Luffy simply said. Then, all four of them turned towards the Marine group that had completely surrounded them. "Now…" Luffy cracked his knuckles, "let's kick their asses!"

But before any of them could make a move towards the Marines, Goku had interrupted them by standing in front of the group. "You guys stay here. Leave them to me!" He smirked and now cracked his knuckles and neck. Then he started stretching as if nothing was wrong. Zoro, Piccolo, and the Marines stood confused as to why the spikey haired pirate was stretching at a time like this. Luffy, meanwhile, had a big smile on his face and relaxed his body as he knew what Goku was planning to do.

Once he had finished the stretching, Goku let out a deep sigh. "QI QI NO… AURA!" Goku shouted as suddenly a white flame-like aura surrounded him, getting surprised looks from everyone, especially the Marines. Goku let out a small smirk as he jumped up into the air. Pulling his hands back, palms open, Goku shouted his next attack. "QI QI NO BARRAGE!" He shot his arms out and from his hand came out energy balls the size of a regular baseball. And these weren't your average energy balls. These were the destructive and painful ones. It was as if you were punched in the face but from very far away.

Caught completely by surprise by the energy ball, the Marines tried to escape but were having a hard time as Goku was shooting out a barrage of energy balls. Within seconds, some of the marines were lying unconscious on the ground, while others stood terrified at Goku's display of his Devil Fruit powers. "That was too easy," Goku said with a bit of disappointment in his voice, hoping to get in a good fight.

Piccolo and Zoro, meanwhile, stared at the spikey haired pirate with their mouths gaping. However, that was nothing compared to what was going to happen next. Goku turned his head a bit to look behind the former Pirate Hunting Duo to see Luffy preparing his attack. He went into a ducking position so as to avoid what was coming next. Piccolo and Zoro, curious as to why the spikey haired pirate was ducking, were about to ask when suddenly, their fighting instincts told them to duck as well. That was when Luffy yelled his attack, "GOMU GOMU NO… MUCHI!" Upon finishing his yell, Luffy stretched his leg and kicked in a wide circle, striking many Marine soldiers. They stood no chance as the remaining soldiers cowered in fear and started to take a few steps back.

"So awesome!" Coby said as he had regained conscious some time earlier.

"How did in the seven hells did you two do that?" Piccolo asked in disbelief as he and Zoro were getting up from the ground. "And for that matter…"

"YOU ALMOST HIT US, YOU DUMBASS!" barked both Piccolo and Zoro angrily at Luffy.

"I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi," replied Luffy, completely ignoring the Duo's outburst. "I'm a rubber man."

"And I ate the Qi Qi no Mi," added the spiky haired pirate as he stood next to the straw hat boy. "I'm an energy man."

"Heh… so you two ate Devil Fruits eh?" Piccolo smirked.

"Devil Fruits?" Zoro asked.

"It was said that these were fruit created and possessed by sea devils and whoever ate one would gain fantastic abilities," Piccolo explained. "However, I heard there is a price to be paid for eating a Devil Fruit. For eating a Devil Fruit, that person will lose their ability to swim in exchange for great power." Coby was very impressed that Piccolo knew so much about Devil Fruit. Goku and Luffy said nothing while Zoro was grinning. It seemed that he had joined a powerful crew, one that would help him achieve his dream of becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman.

On the other hand, the marines were panicking. "Zoro, Piccolo, a spikey haired energy man and a straw hat rubber man! I don't think we can fight them!" cried a Marine. Many of the Marines agreed. However, there was one person who was not pleased with the frightened cries of the Marines.

"Listen up!" shouted Axe-Hand Morgan. "If you think about backing away, on my order, you must kill yourselves!"

"Wait, he's making them do that!" Goku realized. "Those marines are terrified of Morgan! He's forcing them to do this mean stuff!"

"Hey you! Maybe you should take me on! After all, I am the Marines' worst enemy!" yelled Luffy. "GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!" He threw his stretched punch to Captain Morgan, however the axe man was ready for it. After the punch landed on the axe, he pushed off the straw hat boy.

"People like you, without status, have no right to oppose me!" shouted the Marine captain as he took off his coat to fight against Luffy. "I am Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan!"

Luffy then looked at Morgan once more. "And I'm Luffy!" He ran straight at the Marine Captain, preparing his attack. "GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!" Luffy stretched his right fist at Morgan only for him to dodge it.

Morgan threw a right punch at Luffy, but Luffy avoided it, and went to Morgan's back. Luffy grabbed Morgan around his waist, and lifted his body back which made Morgan fall right at the back of his head. Luffy got up and jumped right over Morgan. "GOMU GOMU NO YARI!" Luffy thrusted both of his feet at Morgan, but Morgan rolled out of the way to avoid it. Morgan quickly got up and threw forth his axe, only for Luffy to dodge it. As soon as Morgan finished with his slice though, the fence next to him was cut in half, literally!

"He cut the fence in half!" shouted Coby. "Goku-san, you need to help Luffy-san!"

"Why? It's Luffy's fight," the spikey haired pirate deadpanned.

"'_Why'_?! Luffy-san is your best friend! Shouldn't you help him?!" Coby looked at Goku surprised, shocked even that he wouldn't even help out his friend.

"Nah, he will be fine. Besides, we have a general rule between us that says to not interfere in each other's fights." Coby couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even Luffy was outmatched, Goku wouldn't help him. What kind of friend was that? However, on the other hand, Coby couldn't believe on how confident Goku was on Luffy's abilities. Was it really true that the straw hat pirate could defeat this Marine Captain without any help? Despite that, Coby couldn't help but worry and was ready to help out Luffy. But he didn't have to.

As soon as he turned his head, Coby saw that Luffy was having the upper-hand in the fight against the Marine Captain as the Axe Marine tried to land a hit with his axe arm but the straw hat pirate had kept dodging them with ease. And within one dodge, Luffy turned around in mid-air and landed helm-splitting kick on Morgan's head, making the Marine Captain fall to the ground with a thud.

Grabbing hold of the Marine Captain's collar, Luffy looked at him with a deadly glare. "Some great Marine leader you are! Destroying Coby's dream like that. What kind of person are you?!" Luffy was about to give another devastating punch to the Marine Captain before being interrupted by a loud voice.

"St-stop… stop now!" shouted the voice.

Luffy stopped and looked and saw Helmeppo holding a gun to Coby's head. "If you continue pounding… I-I swear… I-I will shoot four eyes here!" Helmeppo stuttered. Luffy continued his beating of Morgan, which of course didn't sit well with Helmeppo. "I-I mean it! H-he is going to get it!" Obviously he really didn't have the courage to, but who knew?

"Luffy-san! Don't worry about me, just please stop these Marines! I'm not afraid of death!" yelled Coby.

Luffy stopped his pounding of the Marine Captain, letting him go to look at Coby. "Okay! I know," he said, a proud grin on his face. And with that, Goku knew that it was time to act. Using some quick speed, he silently appeared in front of Helmeppo, scaring the scrawny blond lad. Helmeppo let out a scream and fainted, dropping the gun. Coby let a sigh of relief but then noticed that Captain Morgan was behind Goku, aiming his axe at the unaware spikey haired pirate.

"Goku-san, look out!" yelled the pink haired boy.

Piccolo and Zoro immediately appeared in front of Goku and did their signature combo attack, drawing both their swords out. "MINEUCHI!"they yelled, slicing Morgan's torso and as a result, knocking him out cold.

"Nice one, Zoro and Piccolo!" Luffy commented while Goku grinned. During this whole, the spikey haired pirate still looking at the pink haired boy as if he knew that Piccolo and Zoro were going to rescue him. The former Pirate Hunting Duo both nodded in appreciation towards Luffy.

"Th-they defeated Captain Morgan," gasped a Marine. Piccolo, Zoro, Goku and Luffy got into their fighting stances, thinking that the Marines would continue fighting. However, something completely unexpected happened. The Marines had all started celebrating at the defeat of their captain.

"What?" Piccolo asked with confused look on his face. And he wasn't the only one.

"They must have hated Captain Morgan. But, they were too scared and never admitted it," Coby laughed nervously.

"That makes sense after all," Goku shrugged. At that same moment, Zoro and Piccolo had suddenly collapsed.

"Zoro! Piccolo!" shouted the two pirates as they went to attend their fallen comrades.

* * *

_A few minutes later…_

It turned out that Zoro and Piccolo had collapsed from hunger so Rika's mother who owned the restaurant where Luffy and Goku had eaten before fed them very well.

"I haven't eaten a good meal for three weeks! 10 helpings are enough for me," Zoro exclaimed happily, patting his full belly as he had a stack of ten plates in front of him.

"Only 10?" Luffy snorted with about 15 plates stacked in front him.

"Funny. You're hungrier than me," Zoro chuckled.

"And he's hungrier than all of us put together," Piccolo added, pointing directly to the all the bowls and plates that Goku had eaten. And Goku was still eating his 17th helping of food!

"Eat as much as you want!" Rika's mother smiled sweetly as she brought more food to the table.

Coby was eating with them as well. "Thanks for feeding me with the heroes," Coby said politely.

"It's no problem and you helped out too," said Rika's mother.

Rika, who was also with them smiled at the group. She went up to Luffy and Goku and stated, "Onii-sans! You two are so strong!" Goku and Luffy smiled at her comment as they continued to eat. "Where are you headed next?" Rika asked.

"We're headed to the Grand Line!" Goku exclaimed, even though his mouth was full of food.

"The Grand Line, what's that?" Rika asked innocently.

"Goku-san, stop saying things so carelessly!" Coby shouted. "You know what the Grand Line is, right? The strongest pirates all gather there, making it extremely difficult to sail! Because of that, it is also known as the Pirate's Graveyard! There's no way you guys can survive there!"

"One Piece and the Dragon Balls are in the Grand Line so that's where we are headed. Besides, why are you worried? You're not coming with us," Piccolo said coldly.

"Even though I'm not going… I will still worry! Can't I worry about you guys?!" exclaimed the pink haired boy. Looking at the 'monkey' duo, Coby said, "Luffy-san, Goku-san… even though we just met, we are still friends!"

Goku smiled while Luffy let out a big trademark smile. "Yep!" he said. "Even though we have to part, we'll always be friends!" Goku nodded in agreement.

A tear started to show up in Coby's eyes, thankful for Luffy's and Goku's kindness. "You know," he started, "I never had friends growing up. Every time I would be picked on, no one would ever stand up for me. But everyone here taught me to live by my dream!"

Luffy and Goku smiled at Coby's comments. However, Piccolo still had a serious look on his face. "I know that you are grateful at us but you should be more careful," Piccolo said.

"Huh?"

"You were a cabin boy to Alvida, right? Even though you were just doing chores on a pirate ship, you're still a small-time pirate to their eyes," Zoro said.

"But…"

"Don't underestimate the Marines' ability to gather information," interrupted the green swordsman. "If they know your past, they won't let you join for sure."

Coby sighed; he knew it might be true but still he would try anyways. It was his dream and he was going to fight for it. Just then the Marines showed up in the restaurant. The highest ranking member, which was known by his ascot as it was greenish blue instead of blue, came inside. "So you're a pirate crew… right?" asked the head Marine.

"That's right, I'm the captain," said Luffy.

"We will ask you to leave now. This island has a Marine base and we can't host pirates. Sure, we are grateful for getting rid of Captain Morgan and save our town and base. And because of that, we won't report you as long as you leave now," the higher ranked Marine requested.

Many of the townspeople gathered near the door. "Hey!" yelled one. "You ingrates, how dare you throw them out like that!?"

"What kind of bullshit is this?!"

"They saved you too!"

The four man pirate crew shrugged. "Well I guess we should go," Luffy said.

"Yeah," Zoro said idly. Goku and Piccolo nodded in agreement as they all got and began to leave the restaurant, leaving Coby behind and hoping that the Marines wouldn't associate him with them.

But that wasn't the case. "Are you with them?" the Marine asked the pink haired boy.

Luffy stopped at the doorway. Coby struggled to find an answer. They were his friends! But at the same time they were pirates and if he said yes, he would be forever labeled as pirate, ending his dream permanently. "N-No," he stuttered. "I… I… I'm not with them."

Unsure, the head Marine looked at the pirate crew, specifically at Luffy. "Is that true?" he asked.

Luffy put on a small smile. "Well I know all about this kid's history!" Luffy stated. As the straw hat pirate said, Goku nodded his head in understanding what Luffy was trying to do. "I can't remember where, but he used to be with this fattttt female pirate. I think her name was Alvida."

Coby sweated nervously. "Stop… Luffy-san… don't say anymore," the pink haired boy muttered.

But the straw hat pirate ignored his plea as he continued. "It was a fat and ugly female pirate, and this spent two years there!" That was the last straw for the pink haired boy as he punched Luffy directly in the face before he could say anything that was damaging. "How dare you hit a pirate," Luffy said darkly. "You deserve a beating!" He then proceeded to beat up Coby.

The head Marine quickly stopped the fight before it got any further out of hand. "Get out now! I can see you're not friends!" yelled the Marine.

The four man crew all understood of course that it was all an act made by Luffy so they would enlist Coby. While the small crew left, Coby saw Luffy smile and figured it out. However, when they got back to their boat, Zoro piped up. "That was extremely bad acting…"

Luffy gave a small smile, "Yeah I know my acting was bad. But I believe Coby will become stronger and more independent in the future!"

As they just got the boat ready, they heard a shout. "Luffy-san! Goku-san! Everyone!" They turned and saw Coby, with Rika and her mother standing behind the pink haired boy. "I'll never forget you!" Coby shouted to them as he saluted them.

"A Marine saluting a pirate, interesting..," Zoro mused.

"That's one thing I thought I'd never see in my whole life," Piccolo smirked. As they were leaving the town behind, the whole base showed up and saluted them. Even the whole town came to wave good-bye.

"Bye!" yelled both Goku and Luffy at the same time. "We'll never forget you Coby! Let's meet again soon!" Piccolo and Zoro just smirked as the island disappeared in the distance. And so, with two more members, they sailed on their adventure, knowing that this was just the beginning for them. However, none of them had realized that none of them had any sense of direction what so ever.

* * *

**Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter as I did when I was writing it. I have so many things to put into this series. I think it will be really good and good crossover between these two great mangas. **

******Now, there a few things that you should know about this series that I should make clear. First off, there will be no 'ki' blasts from the regular DBZ characters like Piccolo as it will be overkill for the One Piece characters. It will be done through Devil Fruits like with Goku. But there will be no ki flying at all in this series! None! It wouldn't make sense.**

******Also, I may alter some character personalities from the whole Dragon Ball series (in case you didn't understand, it is Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) to fit into my story. Another thing, I have being seeing a pattern with some crossovers with One Piece on this site in that everyone has a character matched up with the One Piece character, meaning that for every new One Piece character is introduced like say Nami, has a character from the other series as well to be part of the crew. I understand that people like doing that but I won't be doing that except for a few instances in which I see fit. The reason is because I don't want have too many characters involved in the ship. It makes it really difficult to have everyone some spotlight and have to think on how everyone would react. I want to keep things simple Plus, some of these characters were kind of phased out in the regular run of Dragon Ball. You won't know who they are since I won't exactly be following much of the Cross Epoch manga except for only a few things. So please bear that in mind as you continue reading this series.**

******READ AND REVIEW! I wish to hear how everyone thinks about this. See ya around! Peace!**


	3. Goku's and Luffy's Past!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. See chapter 1 for details.

**Author's note: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? Things are going well here in Japan. It's hot of course since it is summer and today is my last day working as an ALT for three months! Yay! That means more time to write. But of course, I will still be working since I have a part time job at the side. Well, enough about me.**

**I noticed that there have been many reviews. I'm so glad. I will continue to work hard on this story as well as Saiyan in Mahora. I promise to update as soon as possible. It's just want to move this story a long quickly. So many ideas to write down. Please keep on reviewing!**

**And now, I will present to you all Chapter 3 of Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure! Enjoy it!**

* * *

Log 3: "Goku's and Luffy's Past! Zoro's and Piccolo's vow!"

After their adventure at Spring Island, Goku, Luffy, Zoro and Piccolo were sailing in the East Blue Sea, looking for the next crew member to join their merry group. As they were sailing, Luffy was at the bow of the small dingy with Goku standing behind the straw hat pirate looking at a far while Zoro and Piccolo rested at the sides of the boat.

Feeling the sea breeze on his face and sensing some nostalgia coming to him, Goku let out a smile and went to the brown sack that was tied to his hash. Piccolo and Zoro looked at the spikey haired pirate with interest once he moved since they hadn't done much talking since they left the island. Curious, Zoro asked, "Yo, Goku! What you got there in that brown sash?"

Goku turned his head with a smile. "Oh this?" he said, holding the brown sash. "It holds something very dear to me." Opening it, he took out a small orange spherical orb, around 7.5 centimeters in diameter. It had a crystalline surface and inside the spherical object, there were four red stars shining within. Piccolo's and Zoro's widened their eyes a bit upon seeing the orange orb in the spiky haired pirate's hand as they immediately recognized what it was. However, they decided to not say anything unless Goku wanted to say something about it.

Holding up to the sun as it showed off its brilliance, Goku said as he looked at the orb, "You probably would have guessed but this ball is a Dragon Ball. And it is a very dear treasure that a very good friend gave to me."

Upon hearing Goku, Luffy turned around to the ground and took off his straw hat. "That's right," he said with a proud smile on his face. "That ball and this hat are gifts from a very good friend of ours. We made a promise to him that we would become the best pirates ever."

"I see," Piccolo responded. "Who is this very dear friend of yours?"

Goku and Luffy didn't say anything as they suddenly got a sense of nostalgia upon talking about their dear friend, Red Haired Shanks and his pirate crew.

* * *

_Ten years ago…_

In a small village island in the East Blue, there was a lot of noise coming from one of the local restaurants. And inside that restaurant was a large pirate crew, celebrating. "Cheers! To Luffy's… um… courage… and our great voyage!"

Inside the pub all of the pirates were drinking, eating and having a great time. A young Luffy and a young Goku were sitting on a stool next to the pirate with the straw hat.

"It didn't hurt a bit!" Luffy bragged to anyone who would listen.

"Liar!" the pirate with the straw hat snapped. "Don't do anything so stupid again!"

"I'm not afraid of pain!" Luffy said. "Take me with you on your next voyage! I wanna be a pirate too!"

"Yeah!" shouted the young spikey haired boy. "I wanna be a pirate too and see the world!"

"Dahahaha! You two can't handle being pirates!" the pirate wearing the straw hat laughed. His name was Shanks. He was wearing a long black coat over a white button down shirt, grey pants, and a red sash. On the red sash was a small brown bag tied to it which always got Goku curious about but was never able to see the contents of it. Shanks also had three parallel scars going down his left eye as it looked like that some pirate had tried to scratch his eye out at one point. He also had a head of deep red hair where he got his nickname, 'Red Haired' Shanks. He was the Captain of the infamous Red Haired Pirates.

"Luffy," Shanks started, "the reason we call you _'Anchor'_ is because you can't swim! Not being able to swim is a pirate's greatest weakness! Plus, I don't think you will have the Monkey King here to help you out all the time."

"But if I don't fall overboard then I'll be fine," Luffy pointed out. "Then it doesn't matter if I'm an anchor. I'm a strong fighter! Goku and I have been training a lot and my punch is as strong as a pistol!" Goku nodded in agreement as he was the first one to receive Luffy's punches.

"A pistol?" Shanks repeated. "Is that so?" He didn't really seem too interested.

"What kind of a tone is that!" Luffy demanded.

"Calm down, Luffy," one of the pirates called out. "Let's just have a good time!"

"Yeah, pirates always have a good time," added Lucky Roux, a fat pirate wearing goggles and green and white striped clothing. He almost always appeared to be eating large hunk of meat. "The sea is vast and there's lots of islands to explore."

"And best of all, pirates have freedom!" another pirate chimed in.

"Wow!" Luffy and Goku both exclaimed as they listened to the pirates.

"You guys, stop giving them dumb ideas!" Shanks scolded his crew.

"But it's true!" a pirate protested.

"Captain, let's take these lads with us just this once," Lucky Roux suggested.

"Aye!" another pirate agreed.

"Yeah!" Luffy and Goku cheered as they jumped off of their stools.

"Alright," Shanks relented, "but two of you will have to stay behind." That right there, had got 'em.

"Haha, sorry lads, you both have been beached," the pirates laughed before turning away. "Let's drink!"

"I thought you guys were on my side!" Luffy and Goku both whined.

"You guys are just too young," Shanks said. "Maybe in about ten years, I'll give you two a chance."

"Really?" Goku asked, believing the red haired pirate's remarks while Luffy, on the other hand, felt differently about the situation.

"Darn it Shanks!" Luffy snapped. "I'm telling you I'm not a little kid!"

"Don't get upset," said Shanks in an attempt to calm Luffy. "Here, have some juice!"

Luffy took the glass and quickly downed it, causing Shanks to burst out laughing. "Dahahahaha! See!" Shanks laughed. "A real pirate would never drink juice!"

"That was a dirty trick!" Luffy yelled.

"Yeah!" Goku added, though he was a little confused since he didn't understand the joke.

"Luffy… Goku," came the voice of a pirate with long black hair tied back in a ponytail, as he lit up a cigarette. This pirate's name was Benn Beckman and he was Shanks' First Mate. "Shanks is just trying to do what's best for everyone."

"How do you figure?" asked Luffy as both he and Goku turned to the First Mate.

"The safety of the entire crew rests on his shoulders," Beckman explained. "Being a pirate isn't all fun and games you know. A pirate's life is hard and very dangerous. Do you understand? He doesn't purposely tease your ambitions of being a pirate."

"I don't believe it!" Luffy snapped. "Shanks just likes to make me look like an idiot!"

"Oi Anchor!" called out Shanks from across the pub. "DAHAHAHA!"

"See," Luffy complained.

"Captain, you seem to be happy as always," Makino observed, the woman who owned the pub as she reentered the room carrying a barrel of grog with her. "Luffy, Goku, would you two like to eat something?"

"Okay! We'll pay you with our Treasure Tab!" Luffy assured her.

"Treasure Tab?" questioned Shanks. "Look you two, don't try to swindle the lady!"

"We ain't!" Goku protested, "Me and Luffy are going to become pirates, and we'll pay her with the treasure we find."

"Hah-ha, I'll be waiting," Makino agreed as she went out to get more food for everyone as well as more barrels of booze as almost all of the alcohol was gone. Both Goku and Luffy were sitting on stools next to Shanks. Well, Shanks was sitting right in the middle of these two with Goku sitting on a stool staring at a small treasure chest that was on the counter in front of him.

"Shanks…" Goku said as he took a bite of some steak that Makino had served earlier.

"Yeah kid?"

"How much longer are you gonna stay at this village?" he asked.

"Let's see…" Shanks thought out loud. "We've been using this town as out base for about a year. After a few more voyages and I plan on leaving and heading north."

"A few more huh?" questioned Luffy as he stuffed the rest of his steak in his mouth. "I'll learn how to swim by then."

"And we will also be much stronger too!" added the spikey haired boy.

"That's good kid, do whatever you want," said Shanks, who wasn't really paying attention.

At that moment, the swinging doubled doors of the pub were opened and a large group of people entered. "Make way for the scourge of the mountains!" called the man leading the group. Most of the people in the group were wearing white bandanas, except for one person who appeared to be the leader, he was wearing a big brown coat, had black hair with a bun in it and a black beard, he also had a sword.

"So you call yourselves pirates?" questioned the leader. "This is the first time I've seen pirates, and you look like a sorry lot to me."

Everyone in the pub turned to watch the man walk up to the counter, everyone except the two boys. "Hey Goku, whatcha got there?" Luffy inquired.

"I don't know," said Goku. "But I think it's valuable. Maybe it has more food for us! Should we open it?"

"Of course you dumbass!" Luffy exclaimed. Then, the two 'monkey's opened the chest to see something interesting inside. "You dummy, it's some weird fruits," Luffy pointed out.

"I bet they taste great though, why else would Shanks have it?" Goku added. The partners looked at each other and at that moment, their stomachs growled softly, indicating that they were still hungry, even after eating a few stacks of food earlier. Looking back and forth from their stomach to each other faces, the 'monkeys' let out a small devilish smile on their faces as they pulled out the two fruits from the small chest.

Meanwhile the mountain bandits were still addressing the pirates. "We're bandits," the leader announced. His name was Higuma 'the Bear'. "We're not here to cause trouble; we just want ten barrels of sake."

"Sorry," Makino apologized. "But we are out of liquor."

"Oh?" questioned Higuma. "Then what are these pirates drinking? Water?"

"Its sake," Makino admitted. "But that's the last of what I had stocked up."

"My apologies gentlemen," said Shanks, who was sitting at the bar on a stool next to Higuma."Looks like me and my friends drank the whole place dry." Shanks reached down and offered the bandit leader the unopened bottle in front of him. "Why don't you have this? It's still unopened."

In response, Higuma took the bottle and smashed it over Shanks' head, soaking the captain with grog. Everyone in the pub stood and stared, wondering what was going to happen. Luffy and Goku both stopped eating and waited to see what Shanks would do. But the red haired pirate just sat there with the alcohol dripping off of his straw hat.

"What do you take me for, a fool?" Higuma demanded. "One bottle is not enough!" Then, the mountain bandit pulled out a wanted picture with his face on it. "See this? I've got an eight million berri bounty on my head! I'm one of the prime fugitives here. I've killed fifty-six people before, mostly cocky bastards like you!"

"Just great," Shanks complained, not really caring about the bandit. "Now the floor is all wet."

Higuma turned and glared at Shanks as the alcohol continued to drip down off of his straw hat, "Watch yourself if you're fond of breathing. After all, Mountain Bandits and Sea Pirates don't mingle well."

Shanks didn't really seem to care, and instead moved down onto the floor and picked up some of the broken pieces of glass. "Sorry about the mess Makino. Give me a rag and I'll clean it."

Then suddenly, Higuma pulled out his sword and swung it over his bandit knocked plates off of a nearby table and into Shanks, creating an even bigger mess. "So you like cleaning?" Higuma taunted. "That'll keep you busy for a while."

Everyone was still as Higuma turned away and left the bar with his gang of bandits. "Farewell, cowards!"

"Are you alright, Captain?" Makino asked Shanks as she ran out from behind the counter. "Did you get hurt?"

"No I'm fine," said Shanks. "Phew." This prompted all of the pirates to start laughing. Goku tilted his head. He didn't get the joke.

"Hohoho! Captain, he got you good!" Lucky Roux laughed.

"Ahahahahaha! What a loser!" Yasopp laughed.

"Dahahahaha!" Shanks laughed along with his crew as he dumped the grog off of his straw hat.

"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" Luffy demanded, causing everyone in the tavern to turn and stare at him. "What's so funny? You should've fought back Shanks. I doesn't matter who strong they look or how many they are, if you just laugh it up you're not a man… or pirate!"

"Luffy…" Goku started to say, but he was quickly silenced by the glare Luffy sent him.

"Look I know how you feel," said Shanks as he put his hat back on. "But they guy just spilled booze on me, its nothing to get worked up about. Maybe when you get older you'll understand." Luffy still didn't understand and turned to leave, but Shanks grabbed his arm to stop him. "Oi, where're you going?"

"To find a real role model!" Luffy snapped as he kept walking. But Shanks didn't let go of Luffy's arm. Everyone was shocked as Luffy's arm stretched as he kept walking.

"His arm… it's stretching!" Shanks exclaimed. "Does this mean…?"

"He couldn't have!" said a shocked pirate.

"What's wrong with me?" a scared Luffy asked.

"IT'S GONE!" Lucky Roux yelled, he took a break from eating and peered into the empty chest the fruit had been in. "The Gomu Gomu no Mi and the Qi Qi no Mi we took from that enemy ship aren't here!"

"WHAT?!"

"Luffy, Goku, you two didn't eat these fruits did you?" Lucky Roux held up a picture of the two fruits.

Goku and Luffy both nodded. "Yes…" Luffy admitted, "I had it for dessert. It didn't taste all the great though."

"That's true…"

"You idiots! That was the Gomu Gomu no Mi! and the Qi Qi no Mi!" Shanks exclaimed as he grabbed Luffy and held him up in front of him. "They are part of the infamous Devil Fruits. It's one of the secret treasures of the sea! Whoever eats it will turn into a rubber man and an energy man, and will never be able to swim!"

"What?! You're kidding me right?!" Luffy and Goku exclaimed.

Shanks grabbed Luffy and turned him upside down, then started shaking him, "Spit it out!" Shanks ordered he shook the boy by his ankles, "Luffy spit it out now!" As he was shaking the poor boy, Shanks gave a look to Goku. "You're next, Monkey king!" The spikey haired boy gulped. But then, a thud was heard. Luffy's rubber neck stretched and his head ended up hitting the floor. He couldn't spit the fruit out, now he'd never be able to swim and would be made out of rubber for the rest of his life.

* * *

_A few days later…_

It was the middle of the day and Goku and Luffy were heading into town to get some fish.

"Hey Fish Monger-ossan! Gimme some fish!" Luffy called out when they came to the Fish Monger's shop.

"Hey Rubber Boy!" the Fish Monger taunted him. "Why are you in such a good mood lately? Didn't those pirates set sail without you? Plus, you won't be able to swim for the rest of your life!"

"Don't make fun of him," Goku growled. "He'll just be a pirate who never falls overboard!"

"I'm glad I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi! Look at what I can do," Luffy said as he reached up and grabbed his cheeks, then pulled them in opposite directions, stretching his face in a weird shape.

"What's so great about that?" asked an old man, called Woop Slap. He was the Mayor of Fuchsia Village. He had short gray hair and a red and white striped hat. "You think being gawked at like some kind of a freak is cool? This village doesn't need any more idiots!"

"But Mayor, these powers are so cool!" Goku said happily. He then lifted his right hand up with his palm facing the sky. He then closed his eyes as he began to focus his energy. Within moments, a small speck of energy appeared, floating right above his palm. Goku let out a small chuckle. "I can only do this much now, but soon I will get stronger and improve on this." Luffy grinned, thinking the same thing about his newfound powers.

The Mayor glared at the two boys and continued his rant, "I'm telling you boys for the last time, don't become pirates! It'll give this town a bad reputation! Now that Captain's not such a bad fellow, but you boys stay away from those pirates!"

Goku and Luffy both stuck out their tongue. They didn't care what he thought. They were both gonna be pirates, even if they would never be able to swim. Neither of them was going to abandon their dream.

Days later, Shanks still hadn't come back. Goku and Luffy were once again at Makino's tavern. Luffy was sitting on a stool having a drink while Goku was helping Makino wash some dishes, using his tail as support since he was a bit small to reach the sink.

"They've been away for a while now," said Luffy in a sad tone.

"Do you miss them, Luffy?" Makino asked.

"No!" Luffy replied. "After the way those Mountain Bandits humiliated them? Not at all! I really overestimated Shanks. I though he was a tough pirate." Goku didn't have anything to say as he was more focused on eating than complaining about Shanks.

"Luffy, sometimes it takes courage not to fight," Makino suggested.

"You just don't understand," Luffy insisted. "A real man has to stand up for himself, no matter what. I would have kicked that guy's ass for sure!"

However, just when Luffy said that, the door opened, a familiar voice called out, "Make way for the terror of the highlands!"

Makino, Luffy, and Goku turned to see Higuma and his gang of mountain bandits walk into the tavern. "No pirates today, huh? Smells better…" Higuma remarked. "We're back again!" Looking at the trio, Higuma demanded, "What are you waiting for? We're customers, bring us drinks!"

* * *

_A few minutes later…_

A little while later, Makino came rushing into the Mayor's house, "Mayor, hurry! Something bad has happened!"

"What's wrong Makino?" asked the Mayor.

"Luffy was kidnapped by mountain bandits! And Goku went ahead to fight them!" Makino exclaimed.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

In the middle of town Higuma was hitting and beating up Luffy. Goku, meanwhile, had a few scratches on him as he tended to Luffy. "What an interesting body," Higuma commented. "it seems like kicking and punching won't do it any harm."

"Hey we gotta go help Luffy!" one villager shouted to another.

"But they're bandits we could get killed!" the other villager protested. "Besides, Luffy and Goku were the ones who started the fight."

"DAMN IT! YOU'D BETTER APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW, YOU BASTARD!" Luffy shouted as he swung at Higuma, who was casually grabbed a hold of Luffy's rubber cheek.

"He's a rubber man," Higuma observed as he stretched Luffy's rubber face. "Who would've thought such a thing existed in this world?" Higuma suddenly threw Luffy, causing him to bounce away like a rubber ball.

"Luffy! DAMN IT!" Goku cursed. "YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Goku jumped and attempted to kick Higuma but Higuma used his sword and slash our little monkey tailed hero across the torso. Goku landed on top of Luffy.

At that moment, Higuma noticed Goku's monkey tail and grabbed it. The spikey haired boy quickly winced in pain at the sudden grab of his tail. He started to feel weaker and weaker by the second as his body was becoming limp and weak. "Hahaha! I've discovered two new forms of life," Higuma laughed. "If I sell them to a circus, I can sure get a lot of money."

Luffy got back up and immediately noticed that he was holding Goku like a piece of unwanted trash. Angered at the treatment of his best friend, he charged at Higuma with a stick. "What a stubborn little brat," Higuma muttered as he took his foot and drove it down onto Luffy's head, pinning the rubber boy to the ground. "We were just having a good time drinking and talking," Higuma told him. "Did we say something to offend you two?"

"YES YOU DID!" Luffy shouted from under the bandit's foot. "APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW! MOVE YOUR FOOT YOU STINKING BASTARD!"

"Let the boy go!"the Mayor yelled as he ran up with Makino, but then noticed how many bandits there were and quickly added, "Please?" The Mayor paused then continued, "I don't know what Luffy or Goku did, and I don't want to fight you, but I'm willing to pay." The Mayor then dropped to the ground and bowed to the bandit. "So please, let the boys go."

"Mayor!" Luffy called out from under the bandit's foot.

"N-No m-mayor! That's sho-showing weak-weakness!" Goku growled weakly.

"As one would expect, it's the elders that know how to deal with a situation," Higuma commented. "But it's too late, no one can save these brats now! They have done the unpardonable… they attacked me… and this rubber freak called me names. I can't take that, especially from two freaks!"

"You started this, you bastard!" Goku insisted through the pain while Luffy took a bite out of Higuma's foot, hurting the mountain bandit.

"That does it!" Higuma snarled in anger. "I'm not gonna sell you two! I'm gonna kill you two!"

"I was wondering why no one came to greet us," came the voice of Shanks as he appeared. "And this is why… hey you guys are the bandits from the other day!"

"Captain," said Makino, who was noticeably relieved.

"Luffy, what's wrong?" Shanks teased the boy. "Isn't your punch as powerful as a pistol?"

"Shut up!" Luffy snapped.

"Pirate?" questioned Higuma. "Taking a break from your cleaning duties are you? I suggest you leave right now, if you get any closer, I might have to open fire, you coward."

"Didn't you hear him?" a bandit taunted as he held a pistol to Shanks' head. "Don't come any closer… or I'll blow your head off! Ha ha!"

"You putting your life on the line by pointing that gun at me," Shanks said in a calm voice.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" questioned the bandit.

"I'm saying it's not safe to point guns," said Shanks in the same calm voice as suddenly a gun shot was heard. However, it wasn't coming from the bandit. Lucky Roux, who was once again eating a big slab of meat, suddenly came from behind and shot the bandit in the head.

"Now you've done it bastard!" one of the bandits complained as the one who had been aiming the pistol at Shanks fell to the ground dead. "That was dirty!"

"Dirty?" came the voice of Benn Beckman as he and the rest of the red haired pirates walked up behind their Captain. "Don't make us laugh. You're not dealing with Saints here."

"We're pirates," Shanks pointed out, "and we don't play by the rules!"

"Shut up! This is none of your business!" a bandit yelled.

"Listen well bandits," Shanks instructed. "You can throw food at me or dump drinks on me, you can even spit on me. I'll just laugh that stuff off, but… GOOD REASON OR NOT… NO ONE HURTS FRIENDS OF MINE!"

'_Friend?'_ Was going through the two boys' minds.

"Haha, nice speech," Higuma chuckled, not being intimidated by the red haired pirate and his crew. "You pirates spend your time floating around in your little ships, and you think you can stand up to us? KILL THEM!"

"DIE!" a swarm of bandits shouted as they charged at Shanks.

"Captain, I'll take care of this," Benn Beckman volunteered as he walked passed Shanks, holding his rifle with him. Benn took his cigarette out of his mouth, then pressed it into the forehead of one of the bandits. Benn was only using one arm but was still holding back the bandit, who had only managed to put out Benn's cigarette with his struggles. Benn suddenly pushed the bandit backwards and knocked him down to the ground, while tossing his extinguished cigarette to the side.

The rest of the bandits charged forward at Beckman, ready to take revenge for their fallen comrade. Smiling, Beckman swung his rifle like a club and knocked down all of the other bandits with one swing.

"You were saying something about mountain bandits and pirates?" questioned Benn as he lit up another cigarette and stared down at the fallen bandits. "If you want to fight us, you'd better bring a warship!"

"Wow, that was cool" Luffy exclaimed, he was still pinned under Higuma's foot.

"But, wait a minute…" Higuma protested. NOW he was in intimidated. One man had just taken out his entire gang of bandits. "…the brat started it."

"It doesn't matter," Shanks stated, his voice became casual again, "there's a reward on your head isn't there?" Shanks glared, "That doesn't matter, and we're finishing it!" Higuma flinched. He was really scared and thought quickly. He pulled out something from his trench coat and then smashed something down to the ground. "IT'S A SMOKE BOMB!" Shanks shouted as the smoke hid Higuma, Luffy and Goku from view. But didn't hide their voices…

"C'mere kids!"

"HEY! LET GO!"

When the smoke cleared, they were gone. "LUFFY! GOKU!" Shanks shouted. "Oh crap!" Shanks cursed, "We got careless. He took Luffy and Goku! What should we do?"

"Captain, don't panic!" Lucky Roux tried to consol him. "Let's split up and find them!"

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the sea…_

"Hahaha! What a brilliant escape," Higuma laughed as he and Luffy floated in a little boat out in the harbor. Higuma was still holding Goku by the tail and holding Luffy by his shirt's collar. "No one would've expected a Mountain Bandit to escape by sea." Looking at the two 'monkeys', Higuma said, "Well I only used you two as hostages before, but you're useless now! I've killed fifty-six people who were foolish enough to make me mad. What's two more?"

"GO TO HELL!" Luffy shouted as he went to punch the bandit, but was merely kicked out of the boat and into the water with Goku following

"Ha, good riddance," Higuma chuckled.

"Damn it!" Luffy complained, grabbing hold of Goku as he was still weak from his tail being held so tightly. He desperately tried to stay above the water. "YOU BASTARD! You said they were cowards! But you didn't even have the guts to fight them!"

Higuma stood in the boat and laughed. Luffy and Goku continued to struggle to stay afloat, but were sinking fast. Suddenly, something started rising out of the water. Higuma turned in shock as he came face to fa—uh… teeth with the Sea Monster that lived in the harbor. "Wh-where did it come from?" But that was Higuma's last thought as the giant sea monster lunged forward and swallowed the entire boat, the mountain bandit with it. But the eel-like monster wasn't full yet and set its sights on both Luffy and Goku.

Luffy started to get scared, hoping that Goku would be able to help out. The spikey haired boy was awake but was still weak from before, plus he was being affected by the sea water as he too had eaten a Devil Fruit. "S-SOMEBODY HELP US!" Luffy screamed. The Neptunian lunged forward looking to eat the 'monkeys'. But before the sea monster could eat him, Luffy and Goku were yanked out of the way. The two 'monkeys' turned to look at their savior and suddenly exclaimed, "SHANKS!"

"Get lost!" said Shanks, his straw hat was nowhere in sight and he looked like someone you didn't want to cross. The gigantic eel that was over fifty-times Shanks' size paused and stared into the pirate's eyes. Then to their astonishment, it dove into the water and swam away.

"Thanks Luffy, Goku," said Shanks, "Makino told me everything. You stood up for me." He smiled down at the two boys he was holding with one arm. However, instead of being happy, the two of them were sobbing. "Goku, Luffy, it's alright. It's gone. We can head back to shore now.

"B-But Shanks…" sobbed out Goku.

"Shanks…" Luffy cried. "YOUR ARM! YOUR AAAARRRRMMMM!" It was true, in his haste to save the two, Shanks' arm had been bitten off and was reduced to a small stub and was still bleeding a quite a bit.

"It's a small price to pay," Shanks assured them. "It's just an arm, I'm just glad you two are okay." Rain started falling as Luffy and Goku continued crying. They now understood why Shanks couldn't take him with him. The dangers of the sea were too great, and both he and Goku were not yet strong enough. But most of all Luffy realized what a great man Shanks was, and vowed to be just like him in the future.

* * *

_A few days later…_

"So you're really leaving this time?" asked Luffy. It was a few days later and Shanks and his pirate crew were setting off, but this time they weren't coming back.

"Yeah," Shanks answered. "We've stayed here long enough, it's about time we move on. Are you upset?"

"Yes," Goku admitted.

"But, we won't force you to take us along anymore," Luffy said. "We're gonna become pirates too!"

"Heh, I wouldn't take you even if you begged me," Shanks teased the boys. "You two don't have what it takes to become a pirate!"

"That's what you think!" Goku challenged. "But we'll show you! Just wait, old man!"

"Oi! I'm not old, you brat!" Shanks complained.

"Well one day, I'll find myself a crew that is as strong as yours!" Luffy snapped. "And then I'll find the biggest hoard of treasure in the world…"

"And not just any treasure!" Goku added, "WE'RE GONNA FIND THE ONE PIECE AND THE DRAGON BALLS! I'LL BECOME THE DRAGON MASTER!"

"AND I'LL BECOME KING OF THE PIRATES!" Luffy announced. The two monkey's loud claim caused all of the pirates to turn and smile.

"Oh?" questioned Shanks, "You're gonna be better than us, huh? Well then, do me a favor…" Shanks took off his hat and put it on Luffy's head. "Keep this hat safe for me. This hat means a lot to me. Promise you'll give it back to me someday… when you've become a great pirate."

Luffy then started to cry at moment. Goku let out a small smile as he knew the significance of Shanks giving his favorite hat to his best friend in the world. "Goku," Shanks said, grabbing the spikey haired boy's attention. "I also have something for you." Grabbing the brown bag that was tied to his sash, the red haired pirate pulled its content: an orange orb with four red stars inside of it.

Goku began to widen his eyes as he immediately knew what was in Shanks' hand. He couldn't believe what he was seeing since he had only heard about these things through his late grandfather before he died. "Is that a…?"

"Yes, it is," Shanks finished. "It's a Dragon Ball. It's the Si Xing Qui, the four-stared ball. This ball was given to me by a very special person in my life. Goku, you said you wanted to become the Dragon Master, right? You might as well start off with one Dragon Ball."

"But… Shanks…"

"Goku, I want you to hold this Dragon Ball and collect the remaining six for me, okay? When you you have become a great pirate with your friend Luffy, promise me that you will make a wonderful wish for me."

Goku felt so touched by the red haired pirate's words that he also started to cry a bit. He never felt this way ever since he had been with his grandfather and his time with Luffy. The spikey haired boy clenched the Dragon Ball hard and nodded to Shanks, agreeing to his promise. At the same time, Luffy held the straw hat tightly as well as this and the Dragon Ball had become their 'treasure.'

"PULL UP THE ANCHOR! SET SAIL!" With that, Shanks and his pirate crew were gone. The entire town waved goodbye to them. Shanks watched proudly at the two and thought, _'Those two are going to make something of themselves_.

* * *

_Back in the present…_

As Luffy and Goku stared at both their treasures, Zoro and Piccolo both wondered what the two 'monkeys' were thinking about. But instead of asking them, the two former Demon Pirate Hunters decided not to ask since it wasn't their business unless it was going to threaten the crew. Nevertheless, they were still a bit curious about it as they too had something important.

Another sea breeze came through, pushing the dingy even further into the sea. When that happened, both Luffy and Goku looked up towards the sea, a bright grin on their faces. Piccolo and Zoro also turned their attention to the sea. However, a small light gleamed into the eyes of the green swordsman, bringing his focus to the source of that light. Piccolo looked down and noticed that the light was coming from one of Zoro's swords, the _Wado Ichimonji_. It had a pure-white hilt with a circular hand-guard and sheathed in white. Looking at the sword, Piccolo couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia as he began to pull a small brown dagger/knife out of his dogi. He looked at it, especially at the three signatures written on the hilt as he started to remember about the first time that he and Zoro had met at the Dojo, as well as their promise to a certain person.

* * *

_Many years ago…_

Located far in the East Blue, was an island that had a village called Shimotsuki Village and it housed one of the strongest dojos, the Isshin Dojo. The Isshin Dojo was a kenjutsu school, a school of Japanese swordsmanship. Many people from around the East Blue would join this dojo because of its top-notch kenjutsu teacher. As a result, it had peaked the interest of a particular boy.

"Anyone here!?" called out a young Zoro as he entered the dojo he had been watching, interrupting the practice. "I'm here to take your dojo's sign! Any strong person, come out and fight me!"

Koshiro, a bespectacled man with his long black haired tied back in a ponytail greeted Zoro warmly even though the boy was threatening to take the sign of his dojo. "You want to take the sign of my dojo, eh?" he said.

"Don't underestimate me because I'm a kid," Zoro warned him. "I'm undefeated in all the nearby towns."

"That's fine," replied Koshiro, "we accept your challenge."

"If I win, I'll take your sign."

"And if you lose?" inquired Koshiro.

"Lose?" repeated Zoro. "If that happens… I'll join this place."

"Hahaha, that is acceptable," Koshiro happily agreed. He then turned his head and called out, "Kuina!"

The other students parted and an older girl with dark blue hair walked over carrying a bamboo training sword. She wore a loose white shirt and a pair of purple shorts. "Yes father?" asked Kuina.

"What the hell!?" snapped Zoro. "You're not the one fighting!?"

"Even though Kuina is a girl, she is stronger than any of the adults in the dojo," Koshiro explained. "I'm not a father that brags about his daughter."

"I got it," said Zoro.

"Then please come inside," instructed Koshiro as he led Zoro over to a basket filled with bamboo kendo sticks.

"I can use any of these?" asked Zoro.

"Yes, any that you please," answered Koshiro. Zoro didn't need to be told twice so he reached out and grabbed as many swords as he could hold. He had four in each hand and was clenching one between his teeth. "Let's begin," announced Koshiro.

"Yes, come and get me," challenged Zoro, somehow able to talk perfectly despite the bamboo stick in his mouth.

Koshiro had Zoro and Kuina do the traditional pre-match bowing, during which Zoro ended up dropping two of the kendo sticks he was holding.

"Begin!" ordered Koshiro as Kuina and Zoro turned to face each other and clashed blades. Within moments, Zoro started to lose the match. He barely managed to get his numerous swords up in time to block Kuina's first strike. Then, Kuina broke Zoro's guard with her second strike and knocked him to the ground, sending all of his kendo sticks flying.

_"D-damn,"_ Zoro cursed to himself as he struggled and got up. He picked up two wooden weapons and got in a two-sword fighting stance, he wasn't going to lose to a girl.

"You… have been taught the two-sword technique?" questioned Kuina.

"How would I know?" asked Zoro. "This is the first time I ever held a kendo stick." He only used the real thing.

"The first time ever?" repeated Koshiro, impressed at Zoro's courage and determination as well as his talent. _If this boy trains hard, _Koshiro said to himself, _he could become a powerful swordsman._

_Damn__, _Zoro cursed to himself. _I'm strong and I'll become stronger. But how can I be losing to this girl!? _Zoro let out a yell and charged at Kuina wielding the two weapons. However, Kuina smashed her weapon down through Zoro's non-existent guard and smashed him clean on the face, leaving a red welt. Zoro fell to the ground, practically out cold and the Sensei stopped the match and awarded it to Kuina. Zoro had lost.

"This kid is like a boar," said Kuina.

"Hey, Kuina!" scolded Koshiro, who didn't approve of the insult.

"A poser like you is ten years too early to wield two swords," Kuina lectured the young green haired warrior.

"What!?" growled Zoro, taking offense.

"What's the matter?" Kuina taunted him. "Do you want to have a rematch?"

"Shit… no. A loss is a loss," admitted Zoro. Even at a young age, he was a man of his word.

"Good, very straight forward," commented Koshiro. "Then…"

"I'll join this place," Zoro agreed, that was the condition if he lost. "Got a problem with that?"

"I don't," answered Koshiro.

Kuina turned away and started to leave but Zoro called after her, "Hey! I'll continue to train and I _will_ beat you," he vowed. "Remember that!"

"That'll never happen," said Kuina.

That was how Zoro got started. He joined the dojo and practiced tirelessly to get better. Because of his dedication and determination he improved and became the best of the boys. He'd beat everyone in the dojo… except for Kuina. He could never beat her no matter how hard he trained. Then one day, a new visitor had arrived.

* * *

It was a regular day at the dojo, with Zoro challenging Kuina to a duel and eventually losing to her. This time it was his one thousandth loss to her. Just as Koshiro ended the match, the entrance door to the dojo suddenly opened. Everyone turned their attention to the sudden appearance of a small figure. This small figure wore an indigo Asian martial arts uniform, with a light purple obi. The kanji, 魔, which meant demon, was written on his chest. On his back there was a long katana sword that was inside a purple colored sheathed. This figure was intimidating but everyone wasn't looking at his sword but rather his skin. His skin was green and plus he had antennas on his forehead!

"I've come to challenge for the dojo's sign," spoke the green skinned figure. "Who will come and face me?" Most of the students, including the teachers, recalled a sense of déjà vu, especially when it was eerily similar to Zoro's first time.

"I see another eager young man has come here," Kochiro said with a small smile on his face. "Tell me, for what purpose would you like the dojo's sign?" The green boy was silent in his response. Zoro and everyone were curious as to why he didn't give an answer. "I see," Kochiro responded, as if he knew what the green boy's real response was. "All right, I will accept the challenge. However, if you lose, you will join this dojo."

Everyone's eyes widened, including the green boy's, in surprise and shock at Kochiro's conditions. "But…" the green boy started to protest.

"It is unwise to leave a young boy who has lost his way, desperately trying to find his purpose as well as his previous life," the dojo's master stated. Zoro was a bit confused on Kochiro meant. So, he looked at the green boy and noticed that Kochiro's words had struck something within him. What was it? Zoro wondered.

"May I ask the name of the challenger?"

The green boy was silent for a few moments before he spoke, "It's Piccolo."

"Well Piccolo, are you ready?" Kochiro asked, to which Piccolo nodded. "Good. Kuina, come forth."

"Hai," Kuina responded as she faced against the green man. Piccolo didn't protest about his opponent being a girl, unlike when Zoro first came to the dojo.

"Oi, can I choose my weapon?" Piccolo asked Kochiro, making a small indication to his sword that was tied to his back. Kochiro took a quick glance at it and noticed something interesting about it. He would later like to glance at it more carefully. But right now, he couldn't let the small green warrior challenge using real weapons.

"Yes, but only from that stack over there," Kochiro replied, motioning towards the basket of bamboo blades. Piccolo, remaining stoic, walked over to the basket and picked out the longest-looking bamboo blade. After giving it a few swings, Piccolo turned his attention toward his opponent, Kuina.

"Let's begin," announced Koshiro as Kuina did the ceremonial pre-match bowing. But Piccolo didn't do so as he stared at Kuina with a deadly glare. Everyone in the dojo was a bit shocked at the rudeness of the small green warrior at not bowing before the match. Everyone, except maybe Zoro. He kept on inspecting Piccolo and could sense a deadly power emanating from him. Perhaps, maybe, this Piccolo could beat Kuina. However, within seconds, that all changed.

After a few minutes of starting the match, Kuina was standing victorious while Piccolo laid on the ground with multiple bruise marks. Growling, Piccolo looked up at Kuina and said, "Dammit, how can you be so strong?"

"It's because you are weak," Kuina insulted.

Piccolo's eyes widened. "What did you say?!"

"All right, all right, let's have everyone calm down," Kochiro said, trying to defuse the situation.

"No!" Piccolo yelled as he got back up. "I'm not finished with you yet. I will become the strongest. I have to! Otherwise… what am I?"

Those words struck an accord with Zoro, especially the last part which was muttered by the green boy. For some reason, he could feel a connection with Piccolo. Kuina, however, didn't care at all as she started to turn away. Piccolo tried to give chase but in the way was Zoro, holding two bamboo blades. "If you want an opponent, I would be glad to be one for you," he said.

Piccolo glared at Zoro, quickly glancing him and could instantly tell his strength. "It looks like you are very strong," he said. "Let's put that to the test." Zoro let out a small grin as the two looked at each other. They kept staring at each other, ignoring the customary bow before a match. The room felt tense as suddenly everyone could feel the air around them grow thicker. Even Kuina could help but feel it as she took a glance over her shoulder.

Then, it started. Zoro dashed at Piccolo with a great speed as Piccolo brought down his bamboo blade at him. Zoro leaped to the side as Piccolo hit the ground, creating a dust cloud. Everyone covered their eyes from the incoming dust. Within that split second, Zoro charged towards Piccolo from the side.

Zoro attempted to slash Piccolo around his knees, but Piccolo parried it with his bamboo stick. Piccolo overpowered Zoro by using his bamboo to push Zoro's blades to the side, but Zoro held on to them as he got knocked off his feet, and got spun around in midair. Zoro used the spin to his advantage as he spun around with his bamboo blades spread out, doing several spinning slashes that Piccolo then parried with his bamboo sword by spinning his blade vertically in the opposite direction Zoro was spinning. This lasted for at least four seconds as Zoro landed back on his feet. He then charged at Piccolo again as the two warriors clashed blades once more.

Although it seemed that Piccolo was at an advantage, it was apparent after a few minutes that the two were equally matched. Everyone was amazed at how skilled the two were and some could even see that Zoro had been hard at work ever since he joined the dojo. After an hour though, Kochiro had to stop the match and call it a draw. He had how exhausted the two were and that after such a long time, there wasn't a clear winner.

Zoro and Piccolo, of course, didn't like it that their match was called a draw and it wasn't the only time. After that day, Piccolo had joined the dojo and had stayed there for the year. During that time, him and Zoro had become inseparable as they trained together, fought together, ate together, trying to find ways to get better than the other person. They had become fierce rivals especially when all of their matches from that day were still draws. However, they had one goal in common, and that was to defeat Kuina, who was still the strongest out of the three.

* * *

It had been a year since Piccolo had joined the dojo. At this time, Piccolo was dueling against Kuina with everyone on the sidelines, including Zoro. He had earlier lost his third thousandth match against Kuina while Piccolo…

"Single blow, stop!" ordered the official as Piccolo had received a single blow to the face from Kuina. "Winner, Kuina. Two thousand wins, zero losses."

"Damn," Piccolo cursed from the floor.

"You're weak as usual," Kuina mocked him as she stood over the defeated Piccolo. "Zoro too. How can you two be so weak as a man?"

"Zoro and Piccolo aren't weak, right?" one of the other boys asked the boy next to him.

"They are the strongest of the male students," said another boy.

"They even wins against the adults," a third boy added.

"But they are both weaker than me," pointed out Kuina. "Even with two katanas, a weak guy is a weak guy. A dog that loses should stay quiet; barking about it only makes it more pitiful." With that last insult, Kuina left.

Piccolo stood up and began dusting himself off; a red welt was on his face from where the bamboo kendo stick had made contact with his face. "You've gotten stronger Piccolo," Koshiro assured him. "You and Zoro-kun."

"Sensei, you're not giving her special treatment because she's your daughter are you?" asked one of the students.

"No I wouldn't do anything like that," answered Koshiro. "It's true that Zoro and Piccolo have gotten stronger ever since they joined the dojo. However, Kuina has also gotten stronger."

Piccolo left the dojo to go wash his face. "Another tough loss," spoke a voice. Piccolo immediately recognized that the voice was coming from his rival, Zoro.

"Every time, she seems to be one step ahead of us," Piccolo said as he finished washing his face. Suddenly, he hit the sink with his two fists really hard in anger. "Dammit! Why can't I beat her?! I want to become the World's Greatest Swordsman! I have to!"

"In order to get your memories back?" Zoro responded. Piccolo glanced over his shoulder at the green haired swordsman and gave him a slight nod. It seemed that Zoro hadn't forgotten. During this past year, Zoro and Piccolo had learned a lot about each other. For example, Piccolo had no idea on who he was, where he had come from or why he had that long katana. The only thing that he knew was his name.

"I have an idea. Tonight, we will duel her once more," Zoro decided. Piccolo nodded in agreement.

* * *

Later that night, Zoro ran towards the dojo carrying two _real_ swords with him, while Piccolo carried the sword that was him when he first came to the dojo. Zoro and Piccolo stopped running when they saw Kuina sitting next to a training post along the side of the road. She was holding a tissue and appeared to be crying about something… not that Zoro or Piccolo noticed.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Zoro.

"That's what I wanted to ask you two." said Kuina. "What are you doing here during this time of night?"

"I came here to request our two thousand and first battle as well as the idiot green head's… whatever battle," answered Piccolo.

"Oi!" Zoro barked.

"Anyways," Piccolo continued, ignoring Zoro's protest, "This will be our last duel between all of us. Let's end this. Fight me with a katana! You do have a real sword right?"

"Fine," agreed Kuina. She left and went to the dojo to get her sword, _Wado Ichimonji._

Kuina, Piccolo and Zoro met up in an open field and brought their swords with them, Kuina had her sword _Wado Ichimonji_ , Piccolo had his long sword and Zoro had two katanas. However, there was just one problem. "Hey, green bean, how are we going to settle this? We can't have a two against one fight," Zoro commented.

"Yeah, you're right," Piccolo said. "It would be unfair for her to fight in repetitive matches. I want to fight her in full strength."

"It doesn't matter if both of you fight me, you will both lose," Kuina insulted.

Zoro and Piccolo clenched their teeths. "That does it!" they shouted.

"There is only one way to settle this," Zoro said as he turned his body towards Piccolo.

"That's right and that's through… JANKEN!"

Kuina blinked a few times in confusion as the two young swordsmen got into a rock-paper-scissors match against one another. They continued doing the rock-paper-scissors for a while since they kept on getting a tie until finally… Zoro won! Piccolo grunted in disappointment but gave in as a man of his word that he would let Zoro have his match. He would have his later. He went a few distances from Zoro and Kuina and sat down on the grass, waiting for his turn.

As Kuina and Zoro faced one another, the air around them turned silent and tense. Piccolo could feel it. This was indeed going to be their last duel. And soon, it will be his turn against Kuina. But at this moment, it was Zoro's turn. Soon, the match started. Zoro let out a yell and charged across the field at Kuina, it was time to fight. Zoro attacked with his first sword but Kuina blocked it. Zoro swung his other sword around but Kuina moved her head out of the way causing Zoro to only cut off bits of her hair. Zoro used his first katana to block Kuina's follow up attack.

Kuina pushed Zoro away from her and the two of them stared down then charge again. They fought hard and furiously neither of them getting passed the other's defenses. Kuina was definitely amazed at Zoro's skill and determination while Piccolo on the other hand, didn't think so. He had trained with Zoro for a long time so he knew what the green haired swordsman's limits were.

The duel went on for a long time and both of them started getting tired, Kuina noticed this and called Zoro out on it. "Two real swords must be heavy," commented Kuina. "It seems you still lack a bit of stamina."

"SHUT UP!" yelled Zoro as he rushed at Kuina.

Piccolo let out a small sigh. "Idiot," he muttered. Zoro was letting his temper get the better of him and Kuina used that as an opening. Kuina connected with a hard strike, taking Zoro by surprise and sending him and his swords flying. As Zoro dropped to the ground Kuina drove the tip of her sword into the ground beside Zoro's head, signifying that she could have killed him if she wanted to. Kuina had won… again.

"This is my three thousand and first win," boasted Kuina as Zoro's swords finally landed and embedded themselves into the ground nearby, almost hitting Piccolo.

Avoiding the incoming blades as if he knew they were coming, Piccolo stood up. The green skinned boy then walked towards Zoro, about to lift him up from the ground when he saw something that he never expected to see coming him. "Damn it…" sobbed Zoro. He couldn't help it, he started crying. No matter what he did he couldn't beat Kuina. "Shit… I can't accept this…" Those words hit Piccolo hard in his gut. If Zoro, who was his equal during this entire year, couldn't beat Kuina, then what were the chances that he could win. He clenched his fists tightly in frustration at his weakness.

"I'm the one who wants to cry and be frustrated because I can't accept it," Kuina told him. Zoro stopped crying and Piccolo stopped clenching his fists as they stared at Kuina in surprise. "Girls, when we grow up, we become weaker than men. I'll probably be overtaken by you soon. You always said you'd become the best swordsman in the world. My father told me that it's impossible for a woman. I know…I already know this. But… but I can't accept it!"

"Zoro, it must be nice to be a man," commented Kuina as Zoro pulled himself up off of the ground. "I also want to become the world's greatest swordsman. But I'm starting to grow breasts… if I had been born a boy…" Kuina trailed off and started crying.

"After beating me how can you say such weak words!?" demanded Zoro, causing Kuina to stop crying and stare at him. "That's despicable! Beating you has been by goal all this time!"

"Zoro…" said Kuina.

"It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman!" snapped Piccolo as he too was angry. "Is that what you're gonna say when I beat you one day!? As if it wasn't because of my skills? It makes me, who has been training hard, a complete fool! Don't say things like that!"

"Piccolo…"

Zoro walked up to Kuina and stared up at her. "Promise me that one day, either you, me or Piccolo will be the greatest swordsman in the world! We'll compete to see who does it!"

"Stupid, saying that even though you're weak," teased Kuina. Zoro just glared at her and held out his hand. Kuina reached out and shook it. "It's a promise," they vowed together.

"Here," Piccolo said as he tossed a small dagger on the ground between them. "I think that hand shake isn't good enough."

"Are you asking us to…?"

"No, you idiot!" Piccolo said to Kuina, knowing that she was thinking of doing a blood pact by slicing the palms of their hands. "I'm saying that we should write all our names on the handle of this dagger. This knife will be proof of our promise that one of us will become the world's greatest swordsman."

Kuina chuckled a bit. "I guess you are not a demon after all," she teased.

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?!"

"Alright," Kuina interrupted. "Let's sign our names on this blade. This blade will carry our promise forever." Piccolo and Zoro nodded together as they all proceeded to write their names on the wooden handle.

* * *

_The next day…_

Zoro was off training with Piccolo as the green haired swordsman was trying to find a way to increase his skills. He knew that if two sword style wasn't enough to beat Kuina, then he should try the three sword style. Piccolo would his test as he wouldn't change his style. He was going to keep using the one sword style as if he was meant to do it. They then noticed three of the other students from the dojo, they seemed upset about something.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Zoro.

They didn't answer immediately, but eventually one of them did. "Kuina is… Kuina is dead."

At that moment, time stopped for the two young swordsmen. Their rival Kuina had died. Just last night they had both promised that one of them would become the World's Greatest Swordsman and had written their names on wooden part of the knife but now Kuina was dead and she'd never be able to fulfill that promise.

* * *

"She missed her footing on the stairs in the storage room," commented one of the men carrying Kuina's casket. Zoro and Piccolo were numbly following after it. "It seems she went in there to get her sword's whetstone. She was just a kid… who knows what will happen tomorrow."

From there on, Zoro and Piccolo completely threw themselves into their training and practicing. They beat everyone in the dojo, still had draws between each other and increased the size and weight of the weights they lifted.

* * *

One day, they were hacking away at a pair of training posts with Zoro using two kendo sticks and Piccolo using one kendo stick. After much hacking and how the promise with Kuina was broken, their strength overpowered the posts and broke them. When Zoro and Piccolo finally calmed down they realized that someone was watching them. They turned around to find Koshiro, Kuina's father watching them.

Koshiro led the two young boys into the dojo and all of them knelt and meditated. "Humans are really fragile beings Zoro, Piccolo," said Koshiro. "Kuina was… that girl hated to lose. Ever since she was little she trained in the dojo, obtaining skills that would even beat adults. Because of that she became arrogant. At that time Zoro, you appeared before us. And soon after, you appeared as well, Piccolo. I sincerely thank you two. To be able to beat you two, who were becoming stronger day by day as you two trained together and fought together evenly, she concentrated on her training even more. She didn't want to lose to a boy so she started breaking the obstacles of being a swordswoman. I'm just an ordinary father after all. Even now when I look at you two… I feel a pain in my heart."

A puddle of tears was forming between Zoro's and Piccolo's knees; they couldn't keep themselves from crying, especially Piccolo as he never felt this way before. "Sensei," Zoro spoke up first. "That katana, please give it to me."

"Kuina's katana?" questioned the Sensei.

"I will take her share of the training and become even stronger!" Zoro vowed. "I'll become so strong that my name will reach the heavens! I'll become the strongest swordsman in the world! We promised…"

"That's fine," said Koshiro as he picked up _Wado Ichimonji_ and held it out to Zoro. "Kuina's soul and dreams… I leave them to you." And within that moment, that katana became part of Zoro as he took it in with pride.

"Sensei," spoke the other boy. "I want to use my katana!"

"Your katana?"

"Yes, the same one that I had with me when I first came here," Piccolo replied, tears falling from his eyes. "When I first joined this dojo, you told me that you would hold it for me until the time was right for me to use it. But on our last night together, I stole it in order to fight against Kuina. I never got the chance to duel her with it. So now, I want to learn more about it and use it. That way, my skills can reach her up in the sky. I don't know much about my past and I am very grateful for your hospitality, but I made a promise with Kuina and Zoro that I swore to keep; a promise to become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

"Piccolo…" Zoro muttered, a little surprised at Piccolo's attitude as well as his small regret at not challenging Kuina for the last time.

"I see," Kochiro said, his eyes hidden from view. "In that case…" The kenjutsu teacher stood up causing Piccolo flinch a bit, thinking that maybe he would be kicked out. But instead, he saw his katana in front of him, laid out by Kochiro. "You can have it, Piccolo," he said.

"Huh?" Piccolo couldn't help but question Kochiro.

The kenjutsu teacher let out a small smile. "When you first came here, I could instantly tell that you had no memories, no history, only anger and resentment. It felt as if you were a wild animal, ready to burst at any moment. I was hesitant at first of whether to let you join the dojo but I quickly noticed that behind all those layers, I could see something good in you; that you were a man of honor and principle and that you were just a lost boy. If I were to bring to a peaceful environment such as this dojo, you would come out of the darkness. I instantly knew that was going to happen when you fought against Zoro for the first time and times after. You had become fierce rivals, challenging each other to see who would become the strongest out of the two. And within that challenge, light came to your heart, pushing away the darkness. I am grateful for you, Zoro-kun."

Zoro and Piccolo looked at each other when Kochiro had mentioned that as they didn't noticed that the green haired boy would be such a huge influence. "I am also grateful for what Kuina did for you as well, Piccolo," continued Kochiro. "Without her, you would have been lost to the darkness. So please, keep Kuina's dreams and souls within your hearts at all times. I am entrusting them to you, Piccolo, Zoro."

Zoro and Piccolo started to sob even more. "Yes!" they shouted so loudly as if they were trying to reach Kuina's spirit. And that, is how Piccolo and Zoro made their promise.

* * *

_Back in the present…_

After finishing his memory, Piccolo let out a small smile as he put away the knife that he, Zoro and Kuina had written on. Since Zoro held the _Wado Ichimonji _as a promise to Kuina, Piccolo decided to hold on to the knife as a reminder of the promise to become the World's Greatest Swordsman. He turned his head The four Straw Hat Pirates were drifting along in their little boat in comfortable silence. But the silence was eventually broken by Luffy.

"I'm starving!" Luffy complained.

"It's funny that you have absolutely no navigation skills," Piccolo commented.

"Why?" asked Luffy. "Drifting has worked pretty well for me and Goku so far. What about you two? Aren't you guys supposed to be the terror of the seas?!"

"I don't recall ever calling myself that," said Zoro.

"Neither did I, especially the Piccolo Daimao nickname," Piccolo added. "We followed a pirate that we were after out to sea, but we couldn't find our way back home. So we made the best of things and went after the pirates that were in the area. We had to get some money somehow…"

"So you two got lost?" questioned Luffy.

"SHUT UP!" Zoro and Piccolo snapped. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO PUT IT LIKE THAT!"

"Anyway, what kind of pirate doesn't know how to navigate? We've got to find a Navigator as soon as possible," Piccolo stated.

"Yeah," Goku agreed, "and a cook, and a musician…"

"THOSE CAN WAIT!" Zoro exclaimed. At that moment, Zoro and Piccolo started to wonder on what they'd gotten themselves into when they agreed to join up with such a simple-minded captain and vacuum-eating first mate.

"I'm starving." It was now Goku's turn to complain. It was silent as they all thought about what they had to do since there was no more food on the ship. Piccolo broke the silence when he suddenly asked, "Is that a bird?"

"Yeah! Look at that turkey!" exclaimed Luffy as he stared up at the pink bird flying above them, "It looks pretty big. LET'S EAT IT!"

"Huh? How?" Zoro wondered.

"I'll catch it," Luffy offered as he grabbed the sides of the boat and then walked backwards, his hands stayed where they were while his arms stretched.

"Wait Luffy," Goku interrupted. "That's not a good idea. It looks a little too far for you to use your Rocket move. You might miss that giant turkey and end up in the water."

"But I'm hungry!" Luffy complained.

"I'm hungry too. I think that you should shoot_me_ up there," Goku suggested. "If I am a bit from the turkey, I can just shoot it down using my energy blasts."

"Oh, okay," Luffy agreed. Goku grinned as he jumped up to the top rail of the main sail and waited. Luffy stretched his arms upward and grabbed Goku's shoulders then walked backwards, when he reached the end of the boat he hooked his foot on the edge and crouched down. When the bird got in position he let go and shouted, "GOMU GOMU NO… PACHINKO!" Luffy went flying forward and up and slammed hard into Goku's back and launched him up into the air. Luffy dropped down onto the deck while Goku went rocketing up towards the bird.

"How'd you come up with that?" Zoro inquired.

"Goku's my best friend, we've been doing stuff like this since we were kids," Luffy explained as he, Piccolo and Zoro stared up at Goku as he got closer to the bird.

But suddenly the three of them realized that the bird was much bigger than it appeared. The bird opened its big beak and bit down around Goku's middle, trapping him in its beak. "Ah crap," he muttered as he couldn't use any of his energy. If he did, he would immediately fall into the water and drown.

Meanwhile, back on the dingy… "Oops," said Luffy.

"You idiot!" Zoro scolded him.

"Guys… a little help…!" Goku called out as the giant bird flew off with him still clutched in its beak.

"COME BACK YOU GIANT TURKEY!" Luffy hollered after the bird as he grabbed the oars and started rowing the boat after it. "I WANNA EAT YOU! …and rescue Goku."

"RESUING YOUR FIRST MATE IS AN AFTER THOUGHT?!" Zoro and Piccolo both yelled. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I was hungry!" Luffy protested as he kept rowing at a frantic speed.

"Hey Luffy, look out behind you," Zoro advised as he noticed three figures bobbing up and down in the water directly in the path of the boat. "There are people in the water."

"Huh?" The boat suddenly plowed into the three people in the water but the managed to grab onto the boat and pulled themselves on at the last minute.

"Great you made it," said Piccolo, not really caring as he glared at Luffy who hadn't stopped rowing in an attempt to catch his lunch.

"Were you _trying_ to run us over?" one of the now saved people demanded as he glared at Luffy.

"Why is this guy so reckless?" another one complained.

"Hey, stop the boat!" the third person commanded as he drew a sword. "We're pirates under Captain Buggy."

"What?" questioned Zoro. Luffy, Zoro and Piccolo all then looked at each other, then to the pirates. It only took them 2.5 seconds to beat up the pirates. But in the time it took for Luffy, Piccolo and Zoro to take out the three of them, they had lost sign of the bird… and Goku. The pirates quickly apologized for their actions, as they recognized Zoro and Piccolo as the infamous demon pirate hunters. So in exchange they did the rowing for them.

"We're really sorry, spare us, please!" pleaded another funny looking pirate.

"You jerks made me lose track of my lunch!" Luffy snapped as he glared at them.

"And our First Mate," Zoro and Piccolo added.

"Him too!"

"Keep rowing," Zoro instructed, "because if we don't find him, the three of you will be very sorry."

"What happened to you guys?" Piccolo asked.

The first pirate growled, not wanting to remember. "We had just come back from plundering a ship, when we found this boat with a girl on it. She had orange hair and a nice rack. In return for food and water, she said she would give us her treasure chest. We didn't think there was any harm so we checked the chest. It was empty AND to our shock, that bitch had stolen our boat. Then our boat sank because of the sudden appearance of a storm, leaving us stranding in the water."

"When I see her again, I'm going to kick her ass!" growled a third funny looking pirate.

The second pirate was trembling. "Captain Buggy and First Mate Pilaf are going to kill us!"

"Who's Buggy and Pilaf?" said Piccolo.

* * *

**Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I told you guys that I was going to do a background story because I had to. I really wanted to show how Piccolo and Zoro first met and how Shanks reacted with Goku. Of course, I won't be doing a background story on every single character since you have read about them already. I might even skip some scenes in order to get the story rolling faster. But when necessary, I will provide a story to certain characters, mostly the DB characters.**

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I want to hear from everyone on how I am doing with this story. See you guys later! PEACE!**


	4. Arrival at Orange Town!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. See Chapter 1 for details.

**Author's note: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? Hope you are enjoying your vacation, whether it be winter or summer. Here in Japan, I am about to start summer vacation which means more time to write! Yay! Well, not really actually. I'm going on a trip and be out for a while. I know that many are asking if I am quitting my flagship story, "Saiyan in Mahora". I am going to be honest. I am not quitting. It's just that I have been busy and I am trying my best to come up with the best chapter possible because the story is in an interesting arc. If you want further details, please read my message on my profile page.**

**But back to this story. I am really glad that a lot more people are reading and enjoying this story. And I noticed that one person might have copied off from mine. Just to let you know, if you wish to use my materials, please ask before writing anything. I would gladly help you out in any way possible. But everyone, I am not a fan of plagiarism. I don't like it and especially don't like it when people don't give me credit. Just putting it out there.**

**Anyways, I present to you Chapter 4 of Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure! Enjoy!**

* * *

Log 4: Arrival at Orange Town! The Clown Pirates, Captain Buggy and Pilaf!

A while away, on Orange Island was a deserted town called Orange Town. Docked at sea was a carnival themed pirate ship, which probably explained why the village was empty. Well… empty except for a certain eighteen year old orange-haired girl was running away as fast as she could. She was holding a rolled up piece of paper in her hand that appeared to be some sort of chart or map. This girl was wearing a white and blue striped short-sleeved shirt and a short yellow skirt. On her feet was a pair of high-heeled sandals.

"Stop! You can't run from us!" came a loud shout of a group of three large but strange looking pirates that were chasing after the girl. "Thief! Give us back that chart!"

_I finally have it,_ this girl said to herself as she ran off as fast as she could. _The chart of the Grand Line._

"Damn!" cursed one of the pirates chasing her. "If we don't get that chart back, we're dead! If Sir Pilaf finds out what happened, he's gonna kill us!"

"Sir Pilar?! He isn't the one we should worry about," retorted one of the other pirates. "It's Captain Buggy we should worry about."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

On top of a pub near the harbor, was a tent that housed two mysterious figures that were hidden in the darkness. "Captain Buggy, Sir Pilaf, there's an unknown object flying in the air!" A pirate reported. "What should we do?"

"**Use the cannon and shoot it down,"** came Captain Buggy's order as the other figure was silent and looked on with interest.

* * *

_Back with the Mysterious Girl…_

The orange haired girl was still running from the three pirates when a cannon was fired and struck an object flying and the three pirates stared in shock as something or someone fell from the sky and crashed harshly into the ground, creating a cloud of smoke and dust.

"**Ow,"** came a calm voice in the cloud of smoke and dust. "Why the hell did they shoot me?" The smoke cleared and revealed Goku, slowly getting back up to his feet almost completely unscathed.

"What! He's still alive!" a pirate exclaimed.

"Where am I?" Goku wondered as he glanced around him. "Oh man, now I lost the big turkey. Luffy is gonna get mad."

Suddenly the orange haired girl had an idea as she let out a small grin. She smiled ran up to the strange boy who had fallen out of the sky and hugged him, "BOSS!" she exclaimed. "You're finally here! I knew you'd come and save me! I'll just leave everything to you, and I'll let you handle these guys."

"Huh?" questioned Goku as the orange girl released him and ran off, leaving him with the three pirates.

"Hey! She ran off again!" one of the pirates realized.

"We don't have to chase her anymore," said another pirate. "We've still got her boss right here. He's a bigger prize than she is."

The three pirates surrounded Goku and were all at least two inches taller than him and all of them appeared to be going with the buff tough-guy look. But despite that, Goku didn't seem the least bit intimidated.

"What now _boss_?" a pirate taunted. "That chart was property of the Buggy Pirates!"

"Chart?" Goku repeated in confusion.

"You stole that chart from Captain Buggy and Sir Pilaf, prepare to die!" The three pirates drew their swords and charged at Goku in a triangle formation in order to keep him properly surrounded. But

"Captain Puggie?" Goku questioned once more as he dodged each attack with ease. But then suddenly, one of the pirate's slashes hit the brown sack that was tied to Goku's sash. Within a second, Goku punched the unfortunate pirate in the face. "Don't you dare touch that again," he said with a serious look on his face.

The pirates all gulped internally as they had now realized they had pissed off the wrong person. After a few seconds, the three pirates were beaten and piled up with Goku looking above them. He let out a sigh, a bit disappointed that these guys weren't strong enough for him.

"**Wow,"** came a voice from a balcony overlooking the street. It turned out to be the orange haired girl, who had gone around the corner and climbed up onto the room of the house while Goku was fighting. "You're really strong. You beat those guys with in less than five seconds!"

"Yeah but they were really weak. I had hoped to get someone strong," Goku commented before realizing that he had another question in mind. "Hey! Why did you that to me? I'm not your boss."

"Yeah I know, but I had to get them off me so I gave them to you," the orange haired girl said. "I knew you would beat them up. I could tell you were strong."

"Yeah right," Goku muttered.

"Anyways, I'm Nami," the orange haired girl said. "I am thief that steals only from pirates. Wanna join with me?"

"A thief?"

"That's right, I rob pirates," Nami repeated. "You know if we team up and work together we could get a lot of treasure and make a fortune!"

"Why would I team up with you?" asked Goku, who wasn't all that fond of teaming up with someone who robbed pirates especially when he was a pirate after all. "Not interested." With that, he turned around and started walking off.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Nami called out as she followed him. "I was curious about that bag around your waist. When one of those guys slashed at it, you got really mad."

"Of course, it holds my treasure," the spikey haired pirate replied.

"Treasure?!" Nami exclaimed, her eyes sparkling a bit at the sound of treasure. "You must carry many jewels or something if it that precious to you."

"Nope," Goku replied in monotone voice. "Nothing like that. Anyways, I got things to do." **Grumble…** Goku stomach betrayed him signifying that he was hungry.

"Look, you're obviously hungry," Nami observed. "I can help you find something to eat, and maybe you'll reconsider teaming up."

"Well… I guess I can't say no to a free meal," Goku agreed.

"Alright, come on then!" Nami grabbed his hand and pulled him off through the deserted town in search of food.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

On the roof of the Drinker's Pub, the flag of Buggy the Clown was flying. The skull and crossbones had a big red nose and crosses of eye make up on the eye holes, making it look like a clown. Down on the roof, Buggy the Clown was angry. "You still haven't caught that thief yet?" he asked some of his pirates. Buggy the Clown had blue hair, a big red nose and a skull and crossbones painted on his forehead which was visible under the Captain's hat he was wearing.

"We're trying to catch her, sir," a pirate reported in an attempt to calm down the easily-angered captain.

"This is inexcusable!" said Buggy, "How could you let the chart of the Grand Line get stolen? Just when we were about to head there and raise some hell!"

"Well you see Captain Buggy, sir," the pirate explained. "Someone left the chart out on a table in the pub downstairs. Now only the robber knows…"

"What did you say?" Captain Buggy interrupted.

"I said robber knows," the pirate answered, realizing too late that he had pissed Buggy off.

"WHAT RUBBER NOSE?!" Buggy screeched as he turned over a chair and got ready to kill the foolish pirate. "Does my nose look funny to you?" Buggy demanded. Buggy's red clown nose was a very sensitive subject. Anyone who made fun of it, or said something that Buggy mistook for making fun of it, was punished severely.

"I didn't say that sir," the terrified pirate protested. "It was a mistake! I meant the thief!"

"SO NOW IT LOOKS FAKE! IT LOOKS LIKE BEEF!" Buggy shrieked in outrage. That was three times that the fool had 'insulted' his nose, now he'd pay! "FOR THIS YOU DIE!"

"Please Captain," came the pirate's strangled reply. "I didn't."

"Who am I?" Buggy growled as the pirate started floating up into the air, while holding his throat and gasping for breath.

"Captain… I can't breathe!" the pirate wheezed as his feet left the ground.

"Ready the cannon," Pirate Captain Buggy the Clown ordered as he sat back down on his chair and surveyed the scene before him.

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" the pirate protested.

"DIE FLASHILY!" Buggy screamed. Within moments, the cannon was fired and blasted the pirate with a huge explosion. When it cleared, there was nothing left. "Now get my chart back. And take all of the treasure left in this town."

"Yes sir!" came the pirates' reply as they scurried off. Buggy was in a bad mood and none of them wanted to linger and risk getting blown up with a cannon balls.

"You know, you should control that temper a bit Captain," spoke a mysterious room inside the tent. "If you are not careful, you could die flashily."

Buggy growled a bit as he looked at the source of the voice. "Don't tempt me, Pilaf," he said. "I'm in a really bad mood."

"I know but we had heard that there is another Dragon Ball in this town," spoke the mysterious person as he came into the light. He was short, very short compared to size of Buggy. He wore a Chinese vest and around his neck were a white frill. He also wore a Chinese cap with a star mark at the center. But what was most interesting about him was that his skin was blue. "I want more Dragon Balls so I can rule the world!"

Suddenly, Pilaf was hit by Buggy's fist as he laid a punch on the blue dwarf's head. "You idiot! You are supposed to say that more flashly! And also, quit being such a child! There are a lot things to dream about rather than world domination!"

"Oh yeah? Well, if it weren't for my wealth and resources, you wouldn't have a pirate crew, would you red nosed freak?!"

"What did you say?!"

With that, the two of them started to fight inside the tent, creating a dust cloud that covered the fight from outside. Some of the observers let out a sigh. "They are at it again," said one.

"Yeah, but they always seem to make up later on."

"Hey you idiots! Do you want to get caught in their argument? Captain Buggy is nothing compared to Sir Pilaf when he gets angry! We have to be careful not to piss them off."

"Relax, who in their right minds would want to piss off the Clown Pirates?"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Sometime later, Nami and Goku had found an abandoned house and Goku had gotten his promised meal. Except it wasn't what Nami was expecting. Goku had cleaned the entire house of food and some more as she had to go over to the other houses to get even more food. Over that time, he told Nami how he and his crew had gotten hungry and he had tried to catch a bird, only to miscalculate how big the bird really was and got caught in its beak and taken away. As a result he lost his Nakama.

"Weird," said Nami, once Goku had told her how he had gotten separated from his crew. "So you lost your friends at sea? How big is your crew?"

"Just three other guys," Goku answered as he finished his 30th plate. "This isn't your house, is it?"

"No. All of the people in the town have left because they're scared of Captain Buggy and his pirates," Nami explained. "The town is practically deserted. I've been staying at this house while I've been in town."

"Hmmm, is he that scary? That pirate called Mami?" Goku asked.

"It's NAMI, not MAMI! Besides, I am Nami! The pirate is Buggy! Don't switch the names!" Nami screamed angrily at the spikey haired pirate. "Anyways, about Buggy. He was a low life pirate who was found of canons but ever since he had teamed up with Pilaf, he and his crew have become even more famous. I heard he has got himself a considerable bounty."

"But then why isn't there anyone in this village?" Goku questioned with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I just said they're avoiding conflict! What have you been listening to all this time?!"

"Nothing really. I just heard about these guys named Puggie and Pirar and that's about it."

Nami couldn't help but facepalm herself. "For some reason, talking to you about things like this seems to be too much for you." Goku then started to laugh a bit, causing Nami to turn angrily with sharp teeth. "Don't laugh!"

"Why do you want to steal?" Goku asked with a smile on his face.

"Easy. I've got to collect one hundred million berries, and then I'm going to buy a certain village," the orange haired girl replied.

"Buy a village? A hundred million berries is a lot."

"I've got a plan for that!" Nami said as she pulled out something. It was a roll of paper which turned out to be a map. "This is the map to the Grand Line that I just stole from those pirates. But I am not finished with just that. First I'm gonna steal Buggy's treasure, then I plan to head to the Grand Line and steal treasure from the famous pirates there. What do you think? Do you want to join me? I could use a tough guy like you."

"Maybe," Goku commented.

"Come on, surely a guy like you can appreciate some good treasure," Nami continued to press him. "Together we'll make a fortune, and we can split it fifty-fifty. Plus, I hear that Buggy has himself a Dragon Ball. Of course, it is just a rumor, but…" Nami cut herself short when she noticed that Goku was paying close attention. Thinking that he was being tempted by the sound of treasure, she leaned over the table and batted her eyes at him. "I'm told I can be great company," she said with a flirty wink.

"Hm…" Goku thought it over for a moment and was seemingly oblivious to the orange haired girl that was attempting to flirt with him. One of her words had gotten his attention but right now, there were other matters more important to him. "Do you know anything about navigation?"

"Of course I do," Nami quickly answered. "I'm the best navigator around. There aren't a lot of people who know more about it than I do, especially since I love the sea."

"That's great. My Nakama and I are in need of a decent navigator, and we were planning on heading to the Grand Line too."

"Really?" _This guy and his friends can beat everyone up, and I'll walk away with all the treasure, _Nami said to herself.

"Yeah! I can't wait to tell Luffy and the others that we found ourselves a navigator for our pirate crew!"

"NO WAY!" Nami immediately said, completely surprising the spikey haired pirate.

"Why?"

"If there's one thing in this world I can't stand, its pirates! But I love money and tangerines," Nami replied. "I knew something was fishy about you. You were probably going to use the jewels in your brown bag to buy this chart from me, weren't you?"

"As I said before, there ain't any jewels in here. There is something more precious in here but I guess you wouldn't understand," Goku replied as he slowly stood up and headed for the door.

"What are you talking about? What's in that bag?" asked Nami curiously. Goku gave no reply. "C'mon. If you don't say anything, I might as well steal it from you since you are a pirate."

"You really want to know?" Goku inquired as he stopped walking and stood there staring at the door in front of him. "You know about the One Piece and the Dragon Balls, right?"

"Everyone's heard of those things. All of you stupid pirates are after it."

"Well, it's my dream to find them."

"What, so _you're_ gonna be King of the Pirates?"

"No. Luffy is gonna be King of the Pirates. _I'm_ gonna find the Dragon Balls and become Dragon Master."

"You sound confident, but what makes you think you can find it?" asked Nami. "Pirates with the same dream as you have been looking for the One Piece and the Dragon Balls for years. Besides, the Dragon Balls are only just rumors and I haven't seen one myself but…" Nami stopped talking when she noticed that Goku pulled out a Dragon Ball from the brown bag, showing its elegance to the orange haired girl.

Nami was at a loss of words. Right in front of her was a Dragon Ball. A real Dragon Ball? "H-How did you get this?"

Goku smiled as he looked at the four star ball. "A very special friend gave this and another gift to me and my best friend Luffy. At that moment, we swore to ourselves to gather up a crew and become the best pirates to the person who gave us these things," Goku told her, sounding as serious as he ever did. "Luffy is going to be King of the Pirates and I will become the Dragon Master, even if it means fighting against strong opponents. Besides, it should be a lot of fun."

Goku turned around and watched Nami as she sat at the table and stared at him, she was obviously thinking it over. "I'll reconsider on one condition," Nami eventually decided.

"Keep talking."

"It's just one tiny, little thing… Go with me to see Buggy." Goku blinked a few times in confusion as Nami continued to say, "I wanna steal Buggy's treasure and I'm sure you want to get your hands on the rumored Dragon Ball, right? Think of this as a test. It'll determine how things will go in the future. If we can manage it, I'll think about joining your pirate crew."

Goku smiled. "Alright! Let's go see him then. What did you have in mind?" Goku asked, looking vaguely interested.

* * *

_A few minutes later… _

Nami and Goku were walking down the road. Nami had a rope wrapped around her arm. "At the end of this road is the Drinker's Pub," Nami pointed out. "That's where Captain Buggy is staying."

"Okay but why do you have a rope?" Goku asked.

"That… you will find out soon… when we get there!" Nami assured him as she took her rope and tied his hands behind his back, then wrapped the rope around his body keeping his arms pinned to his back as well as his legs. "Stupid pirate!"

"Hey! What are you doing?" Goku protested as Nami pulled him down the road after her and towards Buggy's place.

* * *

_Meanwhile on top of the Drinker's Pub…_

"WHAAAAT?!" Captain Buggy roared in outrage. "YOU LET THE THIEF GET AWAY AGAIN! HOW COULD YOU LET HER ESCAPE!"

"We're sorry Captain," the three pirates that Goku had beaten up earlier apologized. "But this spikey haired guy was really strong and really fast. He beat us before we could blink!"

"FOR THIS YOU DIE!" Buggy shouted as he prepared to execute his three henchmen for a crime even more severe than insulting his nose: Losing or stealing one of his important possessions.

"But wait, Captain, that guy had something valuable in a brown bag! It gave off an orange color from the sunlight!" protested one of the pirates which caught Pilaf's attention. But of course, that wasn't going to stop Buggy and Pilaf from hurting them.

But luckily for the trio, another pirate ran in and drew Buggy's attention with a loud announcement "**Captain Buggy!"** the small dark-skinned pirate with a pointed hat called out as he ran over. "It's the thief! She just walked through the door!"

"Good, bring her in here," Buggy instructed. "… wait hold on! What's she planning?"

"I don't know," the pirate admitted as Nami walked in pulling Goku behind her.

"That's him!" one of the pirates that Goku had beaten exclaimed. "The spikey haired brat who fell from the sky! He's the thief's boss!"

"Captain Buggy," said Nami as she threw the tied Goku in front of her. "I've already caught the thief and brought back your chart. Plus, a little bonus too."

"Nami… what's going on?!" asked Goku, his eye narrowed when he realized his brown bag was no longer with him. "You tricked me!"

"Hmm… you're returning the chart?" questioned Buggy.

Suddenly, a blue dwarf appeared next to the Clown Pirate. "What's this all about? Please do tell," he said.

"I had a fight with my boss," Nami answered. "He's an idiot, so I decided to try and join up with you. And know how you much you wanted to get your hands on a Dragon Ball." She pulled out a brown bag and with it, a Dragon Ball. It got everyone surprised, especially Pilaf

"Bwahahahaha! An idiot with a Dragon Ball, huh?" Buggy laughed. "I like you. I can see why you left since he didn't have a clue what to do that Dragon Ball. As a reward, I think I'll accept you and let you join as part of my crew." Pilaf grinned evilly as he got himself another Dragon Ball added to his collection.

_Mission accomplished,_ Nami thought to herself. _Now I just need to steal back the chart, steal Buggy's treasure, and get out of here._

* * *

Out by the docks a little boat pulled up. "We've finally arrived," one of the three pirates announced.

Luffy glanced around the empty town. "Where is everybody?"

"What an empty town," Piccolo observed, "I don't see anyone around here."

"Well the truth is, the town was invaded by Captain Buggy," the pirate explained. "That's why no one is here."

Cracking his knuckles, Luffy looked at the three pirates with stern look on his face. "Where's this Buggy?" he asked.

* * *

On the roof of the Drinker's Pub, Buggy and his pirates were all celebrating. The booze was flowing and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. "The chart of the Grand Line is mine again!" Buggy cheered. "We have one more crewmate and have ourselves another Dragon Ball! Everybody give it up, let's have fun and prepare ourselves for our next conquest!"

Buggy's strange circus themed pirates took drinks and continued celebrating. "NAMI! YOU'RE REALLY KNOCKING 'EM BACK!" Buggy shouted to the as she downed another mug of grog.

"Time for a drinking contest new girl!" a pirate announced as he started drinking a mug of grog. Nami accepted and downed mug after mug of grog until the pirate passed out.

"I WIN!" Nami exclaimed as she held an empty mug up over her head. _No one can out-drink me,_ she said to herself. _If I can get all of them drunk, this will make my job much easier pirates are really easy to trick."_

Meanwhile, Goku tried his best to break free from his cage and the ropes even though he could break free. However, he would have to use a considerable amount of energy since Nami had tied him pretty tightly, especially when the rope was pressing tightly against his tail, causing him to lose energy slowly. Despite that, he couldn't let those pirates take away his treasure, the Dragon Ball. He continue to untied himself, vaguely aware of Nami approaching.

"How ya doin' boss?" Nami teased him as she knelt down in front of the cage.

Goku didn't say anything at first because he was a little angry at the orange haired thief for giving away his Dragon Ball to the pirates. Despite that though, he couldn't stay angry at her for long. "Would you mind getting me something to eat?" Goku requested as he was feeling weak from the rope's binding.

To Goku's mild surprise, Nami left and actually came back with some food. "You, you are a nice person," the spikey haired pirate said while eating. "I guess I'll convince Luffy to have you join our crew."

"I don't want to, you idiot!" Nami said angrily. "Don't you realize what's going on here?" she asked while Goku ate his meal. "I _betrayed_ you, and now I've joined Buggy the Clown's pirate crew."

"No you haven't," said Goku. "You hate pirates. You'll probably steal his treasure the second his back is turned."

"Why are you so nonchalant about this?" Nami demanded. "He's going to _kill_ you."

"No he won't," Goku replied with a confident look on his face. "Because… I'm strong."

Nami was definitely surprised at how confident the young spikey haired pirate was. She was about to reprimand him but she then heard some footsteps and turned around to see Buggy walking over to the cage. "BWAHAHAHA!" Buggy laughed. "Enjoy your last moments alive you spikey haired brat. Do you finally realize who you're dealing with? I'm Buggy the Clown, feared pirate with the powers of the Devil Fruit! You had the audacity to steal my sea chart, so now you're going to pay with your life. I'm going to…"

"You're going to let me go?" Goku supplied.

"Yes, I'm going to—" Buggy started to agree, but then he realized what he was agreeing to. "OF COURSE I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GO! LOAD THE SPECIAL BUGGY BALLS! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN! PILAF!"

Pilaf gave a motion with his hand, and two crewmates brought out a large cannon. "Buggy Ball Cannon ready Captain," a pirate reported as he held up a special cannon ball with Buggy the Clown's insignia on it and then rolled it into the nozzle of the large cannon.

"Very well," said Buggy as he lit a fuse. "Now for a flashy demonstration! FIRE!"

The pirates turned the cannon towards a house and shot it off. The red cannon ball was launched forward and pelted into the house, BLASTED THROUGH IT, and then continued to go crashing through an entire line of houses down in the village. When the ball finally stopped and exploded, the six houses that the cannon ball had blown through collapsed to the ground and were reduced to mere piles of rubble.

* * *

"What the heck was that?" Luffy wondered when he suddenly saw a cannonball launched and take down an entire row of houses.

"Wow, that packed a punch," Zoro remarked as he stared at the remains of the houses the cannon ball had blown up.

"It came from that tavern over there," Piccolo mentioned as he pointed at the direction of the cannon fire.

"Then let's go," Luffy resolved. "Maybe Goku's there."

* * *

"A truly flashy performance, wouldn't you agree Pilaf?" Buggy commented.

Pilaf shared a snicker with the Clown Pirate. "Of course," he said. "The power of the Buggy ball is so great that this thing can wipe out the whole little village in one shot. Add your Devil Fruit powers and my wealth, we will be unstoppable on the Grand Line! And with that, my dream of collecting all seven Dragon Ball will be nothing more than a reality!"

Nami stared in shock at the damage the Buggy Ball had done. Nothing would be able to stand up against something like that. "BWHAHAHAHA! Load another Buggy Ball!" Another one of Buggy's signature cannon balls was loaded into the cannon. "Position the cannon!" The cannon was moved and aimed at Goku's cage.

"Now it's your turn girlie," Buggy said to Nami. "Prove your loyalty by blowing your former boss into smithereens with this Buggy Ball. Show me you're ruthless enough to take over the world. KILL YOUR FORMER BOSS!"

"You want me to, k-kill him?" Nami repeated in surprise, just because Buggy was an evil nasty pirate that killed people for seemingly trivial matters, it didn't mean _she _killed people. She wasn't going to _kill_ someone just to keep up an act, even if he _was_ just some lousy pirate. "That's okay Captain Buggy, I don't need to do that… let's go drink some more and forget about that loser."

"DO IT!" Buggy ordered, causing his pirates to start chanting and cheering. They wanted to see something blown up.

_Oh no, what should I do,"_ Nami thought to herself while the pirates continued cheering. _If I don't kill __**him**__, then they'll kill __**me**__. He's just a no good pirate… but if I murdered him in cold blood that would make me just as bad as a pirate._

"NAMI!" Buggy shouted. "Stop stalling and light the cannon!"

"Your hands are shaking," Goku observed from the cage, startling Nami. "That's what you get for going up against pirates unprepared."

"Unprepared?" questioned Nami as she glared at the spikey haired pirate in the cage. "You mean being ready to kill someone like it's nothing? Is that what 'prepared' means to a pirate?"

"No," Goku answered. "That kind of pirate gives pirates like me a bad name. It means being ready to put your life on the line. Are you willing to do that for your dreams?" Goku simply crossed his legs. He wasn't even the least bit intimidated at the prospect of being killed. It looked like he was actually welcoming it.

_Who the heck is this guy?_ Nami thought to herself as she stared at the pirate in the cage. She didn't even notice the pirate coming up behind her.

"What are you waiting for? Don't you know how to do it?" asked one of Buggy's pirates as he lit a match. "It's easy, you just put the flame to the fuse…" The pirate demonstrated and quickly lit the fuse, but he didn't notice Nami reaching under her skirt for the three segments of her bow-staff before it was too late. Nami swung her bow staff around and smashed the pirate in the head, knocking him out cold.

"TRAITOR!" Captain Buggy screamed. "AND AFTER I WELCOMED YOU INTO MY CREW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!"

_Darn I couldn't help myself,_ Nami said to herself, but then she noticed the sly grin on Goku's face. "Don't get any bright ideas!" she exclaimed. "I did it because of my own feelings. No matter what, I won't become a cruel pirate. YOU PIRATES TOOK SOMEONE DEAR TO ME! AND I'LL NEVER BECOME WHAT I HATE!"

"So that's why you hate pirates," Goku realized. Suddenly, he smelled something burning. He looked around and saw the fuse was still burning. "Ah! Nami, the fuse is still burning!"

"The fuse," said Nami as she reached out and grabbed the burning fuse on the cannon and smothered it with her hand. "Aaaaahhhhh!" Nami yelled out in pain as the fuse burned her hands while she put it out.

"KILL HER!" Buggy commanded, his men charged at the thief by the cannon.

Nami whirled around in time to see the angry punch of pirates charging at her. Within moments, the pirates went crashing to the ground before they even reached Nami. She turned around and saw three new faces enter the fray as Luffy, Piccolo and Zoro were left standing over them.

"Luffy, Piccolo, Zoro, it's about time you guys got here," Goku commented. "What took you? Did you get lost?"

"What're you doing in that cage?" asked Luffy as he stared at the cage Goku was trapped in curiously. "And did you catch our lunch?"

"Will you forget about the turkey for two minutes?!" Zoro and Piccolo scolded him.

"Did he just call those two guys Z-Zoro a-and P-P-Piccolo?" a pirate stammered. "What's the Demon Pirate Hunter Duo doing talking to that thief? And who's that other guy with the hat?"

_The crewmates he was talking about, _Nami said to herself_. That was Zoro and Piccolo, the Demon Pirate Hunter Duo, and the other one's the Captain. He knew they were coming… he was just stalling for time…"_

"So you're Roronoa Zoro, huh?" asked Captain Buggy. "I'm guessing that green guy must be Piccolo Daimao. You two must have come here to capture me."

"Actually we gave up Pirate Hunting," Piccolo admitted.

"Plus, we have no interest in you. We just came here to get our First Mate back."

"Well I have an interest in you," Buggy announced. "Killing you two would be a great honor, especially you Zoro."

"Try it, and you'll end up dead," Zoro threatened him.

"WOW A CLOWN!" Luffy exclaimed, having just noticed Buggy the Clown. "Can you do a trick?!" Buggy stared at Luffy in shock, too surprised to think of anything to say.

"YOU'RE AN ENTIRE CREW OF MORONS!" Buggy yelled, finally getting over his shock.

"Then what does that make _your_ crew?" Piccolo retorted.

"I'LL KILL YOU FIRST PICCOLO DAIMAO!" Buggy screamed.

"No, you won't," said Zoro as he faced Buggy and glared at him. "You picked a fight with _me _first. Piccolo, this is my fight. Don't interfere."

"Do you really have to say that, you green haired bastard?" Piccolo said. "Fine. I'll let you have this one. But if you lose, I will kill you and that clown so don't go easy on him." Piccolo then walked over to Goku's cage and stood next to it while Luffy sat on top of it so he could have a good seat.

"Get 'im Captain Buggy!" the Buggy Pirates cheered their captain on, "Cut him to pieces!"

"Get ready Pirate Hunter," said Buggy, "Because I'm about to get a look at your blood."

"You asked for it," Zoro replied as he drew his swords and got in a fighting stance.

"DIE FLASHILY!" Buggy charged at Zoro. However, Zoro's attack connected and Buggy fell to the ground in pieces.

"No way," said Nami to herself as she heard Buggy's pirates laughing. "_What's with these pirates?"_ Nami thought to herself as watched Buggy's crew. _"Their Captain gets killed and they just laugh about it."_

"That was disappointing," Zoro commented as he stared down at the severed pieces of Buggy the Clown's body.

"Zoro, don't let your guard down," Piccolo advised as he surveyed the scene. Buggy's pirates were _laughing_ and the many pieces that remained of Buggy were still on the ground.

"Luffy, get me out of here. My tail is being held up tightly and quickly losing strength," Goku said as he glanced up as his Captain who was still sitting on top of the cage.

"Oh, I was wondering why you were in there," said Luffy, causing Zoro, Nami, Piccolo, and some of Buggy's crew to sweat-drop.

Zoro had turned away from Buggy and stood next to Luffy and Piccolo in front of Goku's cage. "We can't open this cage without a key," Zoro observed. "And these bars are too thick for me to cut through. What do you think, Piccolo?" Piccolo nodded and was to examine the bars more closely.

However, the circus-themed pirates laughed louder than ever. "HA HAH HEH HEH HEE!"

"I don't get it, what's so funny?" Luffy wondered as he scratched the back of his head, making himself look even more like a monkey.

"Very funny, now hand over the key to the cage before I get cranky," Zoro ordered as he glared at the laughing pirates.

"Those guys are kind of creepy," Luffy remarked.

But suddenly a look of intense pain appeared on Zoro's face. He looked down and saw that he had been stabbed from behind with a dagger. The dagger was going in through the lower left side of his back and the tip was coming out his front causing Zoro's blood to flow freely.

"ZORO!" Luffy shouted in surprise as he stared down at the bleeding swordsman. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Everyone looked around to see who had stabbed the Pirate Hunter. Then anger turned into shock as it was Captain Buggy's hand that had stabbed him. But his hand wasn't attached to his body… it was still cut off… but was floating, like it had a life of its own.

"What's that?" questioned Nami. "A hand?"

"That must be Buggy's power," Piccolo reasoned.

"The battle has only started, bounty hunter!" Pilaf smirked.

"Damn it," Zoro cursed to himself. "What the hell was that? A flying hand?"

"**It's the Bara Bara no Mi (Chop Chop Fruit),"** came the voice of Buggy as his head floated up off of the ground and attached itself back onto his body. "That's the name of the Devil Fruit that I ate. You can cut me to pieces, but my body will still go back together. I can detach any part of my body. I'm a Chop Chop Man!"

"A Chop Chop Man? That's silly," remarked Luffy.

"But, I thought Devil Fruits were just a myth," said Nami.

"Roronoa Zoro, I just missed you vitals," Buggy called out, "but I still gave you a critical wound, Demon Pirate Hunter. I believe that makes me the winner of this fight. You're next, Piccolo Daimao and the result should be the same."

Zoro held onto his wound as he looked angrily at the clown pirate. _Ung… I came to save Goku, and now it looks like I'm the one who needs saving,_ Zoro thought to himself. _When I heard that this clown had eaten Devil Fruit, I should have been more prepared. _Piccolo, meanwhile, didn't say anything at Buggy while his right hand went up to the handle of his giant katana, ready to draw it out.

"You've got him trapped! Finish him Captain Buggy!" the Buggy Pirates cheered.

"You definitely can beat the infamous Demon Pirate Hunter Duo!"

_Now the tables have turned,"_ Nami said to herself. _If I don't do something we'll all be killed._

Meanwhile, Luffy was pissed. Buggy was a horrible person and he fought dirty. "STABBING SOMEONE IN THE BACK!" Luffy yelled. "THAT'S FIGHTING DIRTY, YOU GOT THAT BIG NOSE!"

Everyone, except for Goku, Zoro and Piccolo, froze after hearing that comment. "You idiot!" Nami snapped. "That's the one thing you never…"

"YOU DARE TO CALL ME BIG NOSE?" Buggy's hand detached while holding a knife and flew at Luffy, but he reached out and caught the hand easily.

"I swear…" said Luffy as he threw the dagger to the side, and glared at the clown pirate. "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS! I ALREADY WARNED YOU, _NO ONE _HURTS MY NAKAMA!"

"Bwahahaha! You? Kick _my_ ass?" Buggy laughed. "And just how to you expect to do that? You're all about to die!"

But before they got into a fight, Piccolo lowered his hand and put in on the Straw Hat's shoulder. "Luffy," he said. "Flip the cannon."

"Got it," agreed Luffy agreed as he ran to the cannon and grabbed the barrel. He then hoisted it up onto his back then shot up, causing the barrel to go straight up into the air, before falling down, now pointing in the opposite direction.

"The cannon's pointed at US!" shouted one of Buggy's pirates.

"And it's loaded with one of my Buggy Balls!" Pilaf shrieked.

"Oi, orange girl, now," Piccolo ordered. Nami was a bit hesitant at first but quickly lit the fuse, this time she had no problem doing it.

"NO! LOOK OUT!" Buggy screamed, as the fuse burnt down and fired the cannon. The Buggy Ball exploded forward and impacted with the ground, creating a big cloud of smoke and dust.

"Time to go," Goku suggested.

"Hey, who are you?" asked Luffy, seemingly just noticing Nami.

"I'm a thief," Nami answered.

"Actually Luffy," Goku chimed in. "I've found us a Navigator."

"I never agreed to that!" Nami snapped. "And shouldn't you be trying to get out of the cage?"

"Luffy, let's get out of here," Piccolo suggested. "We'll worry about unlocking the monkey king later."

"Hey!"

"**YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE YOU FLASHY BASTARDS!**" came a loud shriek from Buggy, who had apparently survived the blast.

"Don't worry, I've got it," Luffy assured him as he grabbed two of the bars of the cage, then turned around and in an amazing feat of strength hoisted the entire thing up onto his back. His Nakama was in danger, the thought of getting everyone safely out of the situation gave him the strength of over ten men.

"Zoro, are you gonna be alright?" asked Goku from on Luffy's back.

"I'll live," the swordsman assured him as he stood next to Luffy and held his hand over his knife wound. He started to fall down due to the blood loss but luckily Piccolo was there to catch him.

"Idiot," Piccolo muttered as he placed the injured swordsman on his shoulder.

"How can you do this?" asked Nami in amazement as she stared at the big iron cage on Luffy's back.

"Luffy, get us out of here before they recover," Goku instructed.

"I don't get it," said Nami to herself, "No pirate would risk his life for another one."

"When you're Nakama, you do this kind of crazy thing for each other," Luffy explained with a casual shrug. "See ya!" With that Luffy and Zoro ran off carrying the caged Goku with them.

Nami noticed that the dust and smoke was clearing and figured she'd better leave, but she had one more thing to do before she left…

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Where'd they go?" Buggy demanded once the smoke cleared.

"They're gone Captain," a timid pirate answered, "Zoro, Piccolo Daimao, Nami, the Monkey King, that Straw Hat guy, even the cage!"

"That's impossible!" Buggy snapped, "That cage is made out of iron! It took five men to carry it."

"AHH! IT'S GONE!" a pirate suddenly shrieked.

"What's gone?" Buggy demanded, this was just getting worse and worse!

"The key to the cage," the pirate answered. "Someone stole it!"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

On a roof top in the middle of town Luffy slammed down the cage while Piccolo who was holding Zoro on his shoulder sat next to him on a roof.

"How're we gonna get you out of that cage?" Luffy wondered.

"We're in a… fine mess…" Zoro panted as he held his hand over his wound. "But now we've gotta finish what we started."

"You are in no condition to fight, green haired bastard," Piccolo mentioned as he dropped Zoro onto the floor. "I'll take over your fight."

"Shut up, you green asshole," Zoro muttered. "Don't you dare inter –"

"**Are they in the Pub?"** called the far off voice of a pirate, interrupting the green haired swordsman.

"**No!"**

"**What about the main road?"**

"**Not there either."**

* * *

_Meanwhile, back with the Buggy Pirates…_

"NO MORE CLOWNING AROUND!" Buggy yelled, "THOSE FIVE ARE TRYING TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME! WHO AM I?!"

"Pirate Captain Buggy the Clown!"

"Damn straight," Buggy growled.

"Clearly we're not dealing with common thieves! This means war!" Pilaf mentioned.

"LISTEN UP CREW!" Buggy shouted to his men. Luffy, Goku, Zoro, Piccolo and Nami had escaped and he was still pissed off. "WE'VE FLASHILY STOLEN TONS OF TREASURE AND OUR NAME BRINGS FLASHY TERROR TO ALL WHO HEAR IT! SO ARE WE GOING TO LET FOUR LOSERS MAKE FOOLS OUT OF US?"

"No sir!" Buggy's men chanted.

"WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Pilaf roared.

"NO SIR!" Buggys men shouted.

"ALRIGHT, PIPE DOWN!" Buggy snapped. This wasn't funny to Buggy and he decided that he wanted to end this quickly. He was going to start off with the big guns, "It's time to show our enemies how terrifying we can be! Bring out the Wild Animal Show!"

"**Captain Buggy… you called?**" came a voice.

"IT'S BEAST TAMER MOHJI!" the Buggy Pirates exclaimed.

A man wearing blue pants and a fuzzy white costume with ears on his head that made him look like a bear came forward. But what was intimidating about him was the giant lion that he was riding on. The lion was about half the size of a building and had a big purple mane. This was 'Beast Tamer' Mohji, Buggy the Clown's third in command, and Richie his enormous pet lion.

"I will bring you Roronoa Zoro's head," Mohji vowed. "And may even add Piccolo Daimao's head as well."

"Bring me any parts you want," Buggy replied with a sadistic smile on his painted face.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"We should be far enough away by now," Piccolo announced as he, Zoro and Luffy walked down the street through the deserted town. Zoro was attempting to recover from the knife wound he'd gotten from Buggy and Luffy was walking along beside him dragging the cage that Goku was trapped in. "I don't think Buggy and his pirates will be able to catch up to us any time soon."

"We got away for now," Piccolo reasoned. "But we need to get Goku out of this thing."

Zoro suddenly collapsed to the ground. "It's no use…" Zoro panted as he lay bleeding in the middle of the street. "I've lost too much blood… I've got to rest…"

"Not the best place to take a break, but whatever," Piccolo mentioned. He was about to say something else to Zoro but quickly saw that the green haired swordsman was out like a light bulb as he fell asleep against a street light.

Luffy pulled himself up and sat on top of the cage, but due to his short attention span, his eyes wandered and he noticed something. "Hey, a dog!" Luffy exclaimed. He hopped off of the cage and crouched down in front of a small white dog that was sitting on the curb in front of a pet food store. "Is it real?" wondered Luffy as he poked it. "It's not moving."

"It's his business if he moves or not," Piccolo answered. "Our business is to get you out of there. Besides, I don't think it wants to be poked."

"Maybe its acting as a guard for something or maybe waiting for someone," Goku commented.

"I don't think so," Luffy replied as he continued poking the dog. "Maybe it's dead."

"GRRAAAHH!"It turned out that the dog was very much alive, and it didn't like to be poked. The dog lunged at Luffy and bit his face in retaliation.

"DUMB DOG! LEMME GO!" Luffy hollered as he tried to shake the dog off of him, but the tiny mutt had a firm hold.

"LUFFY, STOP PLAYING AROUND!" Piccolo shouted.

"Dumb dog," Luffy muttered as he fell on his back once the dog let go of him.

"**Look at you four,"** Nami commented as she came across the interesting sight. Here were four pirates that were on the run from Buggy the Clown, but instead of running and hiding like anyone normal person would have; all four of them were in the middle of the street. "Not to criticize... but is the middle of the street really the best hiding place you could come up with?"

"Oh, hey it's our new Navigator," said Goku.

"I never agreed to that!" Nami snapped. Nami took a breath and calmed down, "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for saving me."

Nami tossed a key on the ground. "THE KEY!" Goku exclaimed, "YOU STOLE THE KEY TO THE CAGE!"

"Yeah I stole the key," Nami replied with a sigh, "But since you guys saved me earlier, this makes us even. I don't owe you pirates anything now."

"THIS IS GREAT!" Luffy cheered. "I THOUGHT WE'D NEVER GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"

"I guess the rescue was a success after all," Piccolo commented. But then, to the surprise of everyone watching, the dog took the key and ate it.

"STUPID CRAZY DOG!" Luffy shouted, he grabbed the tiny dog and started shaking it, hoping it would cough up the key, "COUGH IT UP! THAT'S NOT FOOD! GIMME THAT KEY!"

"**Hey you kids!**" came the shout from an old man. "Leave Chou-Chou alone!"

"Chou-Chou?" Luffy repeated, as the dog once again mauled his face.

"Who are you ossan?" asked Goku as he looked up at the old man. The man was had funny grey hair that made him look like a Poodle and was wearing old-looking armor with a spear strapped to the back.

"Who am I?" asked the old man, who was called Boodle. "I'm the Mayor of this town! That's who!"

A few minutes later, Mayor Boodle, Piccolo and Nami had gone off and taken Zoro somewhere for him to continue sleeping, but seeing how Goku was stuck in the cage they left him where he was. When they came back, Luffy was still sitting on his spot on top of the cage and stared down at the dog that had eaten the key to the cage. The two 'monkeys' noticed that Piccolo wasn't among them.

"Where'd you take Zoro?" asked Goku.

"He's resting at my house," answered the Mayor. "That boy had lost a lot of blood. I told your green friend here there was a doctor at the refugee shelter, but he said that the swordsman just needed some sleep. He left behind with Zoro just to make sure he was okay."

"So the dog's name is Chou-Chou?" questioned Nami. "Why is he the only one left in town?"

"He's guarding the shop. I just came to feed him."

"Oh, so he's a guard dog," Nami reasoned. "For a pet food store…"

"A good friend of mine owned this store. He and Chou-Chou opened it years ago. They've got a lot of memories here, and so do I. See those wounds?" asked the Mayor as he pointed to some scars on Chou-Chou. "He's been fighting the pirates, protecting his store."

"This store might be important," said Nami. "But Chou-Chou shouldn't be risking his life for it. Isn't the owner at the refugee shelter with everyone else?"

"No he's not," the Mayor answered solemnly. "He got sick and passed on. He went to the hospital three months ago."

"Poor thing," Nami commented, "You mean he's been sitting here waiting for his master the whole time?"

"That's what everybody says," said the Mayor. "But that's not what I think. Chou-Chou is a smart dog, I think he knows his master is dead."

"Then why does he still guard the store?" asked Nami.

"It's his treasure," Goku said simply.

"Exactly," the mayor agreed. "This is his master's store. I think that Chou-Chou still guards the store because it's all he has left of his beloved master. I've been trying to get him to the shelter, but he won't budge from this spot. He'd rather starve to death than leave his post."

**RAWWWWRRR! **A loud roar rang out causing all of them to jump.

"What the hell was that?" asked Nami in a panic.

"It must be 'Beast Tamer' Mohji!" the Mayor answered. He and Nami quickly ran off down the road.

"Beast Tamer?" Goku repeated, as Luffy, who had been silently staring at the dog all this time got off of the cage and stood next to it. Goku and Luffy found themselves face-to-face with a giant lion.

"Well what have we here?" questioned Mohji. "I'm Mohji, Buggy's third in command. They call me the Beast Tamer. Ha ha, looks like your friends have abandoned you… after all that effort to get you this far. Captain Buggy and Sir Pilaf are really upset; you two are in big trouble now."

"GRRRRRR!" the giant loin growled.

Luffy and Goku stared at each other while struggling not to laugh at Mohji's strange appearance. "What's with the weird costume?" Luffy finally asked.

"COSTUME?! THIS IS MY HAIR!" Mohji yelled at him.

"That just makes it weirder," Goku said to Luffy in a 'stage whisper' which was loud enough for Mohji to hear.

"Are they purposely provoking him?" Nami wondered as she and Mayor Boodle his around the corner.

"Those idiots," the Mayor muttered.

"I'LL TEACH YOU A LESSON YOU LITTLE WISE-ASS!" Mohji roared. "I bet you think you're safe in that cage. Well clearly he doesn't know who I am. There's not an animal alive that I can't control. I can even control that mutt." Mohji jumped down off of his lion and walked up to Chou-Chou, "Shake," Mohji instructed as he reached out his -Chou didn't want to shake and instead lunged forward and bit Mohji's arm.

"AAAAHH!" Mohji hollered in pain and indignation as he tried to shake the dog off of him.

"HAHAHAHA!" Luffy laughed loudly as Mohji struggled to get the angry dog off of him. Goku smiled and laughed as well, easily amused. Mohji eventually go the dog off of him and then climbed back up onto the top of his huge lion where it was safe.

"STOP LAUGHING!" Mohji scolded the rubber pirate. He was used to being TERRIFYING! Not FUNNY!

"Hahaha! That dog got you," Goku laughed.

"You're just an accomplice of that spikey haired jerk!" Mohji said to Luffy.

"Oi, Luffy is not my accomplice," Goku insisted.

"That's right, I'm the captain!"

Mohji stared at Luffy who was having a staring contest with the lion and sweat-dropped. "You're joking… right?"

"You two mean nothing to me, so I'll give you one chance, tell me, where are Roronoa Zoro and Piccolo?

"NO!" Luffy refused. Zoro was still resting from his wounds and Piccolo was protecting the green haired swordsman; he wasn't about to sell out his Nakama. Especially not to some weird guy on a lion.

"THEN DIE!" Mohji hollered, "GET HIM RICHIE!"

"RAAWWWR!" The lion roared and lunged forward but Luffy moved out of the way. Goku was stuck in the cage and became the focus of the lion's lion reached down and ripped apart the cage with its massive jaws and claws.

"Hmph," Goku grunted as he leapt out of the cage and onto the giant lion's snout.

"IT BIT THROUGH A STEEL CAGE!" Nami exclaimed from around the corner.

"Those boys are goners," said the Mayor.

"RAAAAWWWWRRRR!" Richie the lion roared as he struggled to get the spikey haired pirate off of his snout.

"WOW! GOKU! THAT'S SOOO COOL!" Luffy cheered as he watched his best friend on the lion with stars in his eyes.

"Yeeeehaaa!" Goku cheered loudly. But it wouldn't last very long. By then, the giant lion blindly swatted the cage, sending it crashing into Luffy, causing him to go flying. The cage was hit so hard it smashed Luffy THROUGH a house, which crumbled down to the ground after Luffy and the cage went through it.

"Nobody could have survived that," said Mohji, "Now there's just one left." Mohji glared at the pirate on his lion's snout. "RICHIE KILL HIM!" Mohji ordered.

The lion snapped its head up, launching Goku off of it and up into the air, then it raised his mighty paw and swatted Goku in was sent flying and smashed through the wall on the third floor of a nearby house.

"There," Mohji resolved as he climbed back onto the lion. "Now let's go find Zoro and Piccolo." But the lion suddenly stopped when it noticed the pet food store nearby. "What is it?" asked Mohji, who looked up and saw the store. "Alright have a snack. But be quick about it."

"GRRRRRR!" Chou-Chou didn't like this one bit.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Wow! What an impact!" Luffy exclaimed as he slowly got up to his feet and stared at the wrecked house he had been smashed through. "He knocked me through that house and into the street behind it! But at least Goku's out of that cage. Now we can show these clowns and make that thief our Navigator."

* * *

**Author's note: Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm trying to get through these beginning chapters to get to the good stuff as quickly as possible but because of these two mangas are so great, it's hard to not mess it. I want it to be perfect. But let's just say there are going to be some interesting stuff going later, especially more Dragon Ball and One Piece pairs but not too many. This one was done because of the Cross Epoch manga and also the Seiyuu's (Japanese voice actors) for Buggy and Pilaf are the same person!**

**READ AND REVIEW! I have enjoyed everyone's reviews so please keep going. Take care everyone! Peace!**


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